


Nightcrawling To You

by lightwdslevi



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Violence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Hate Sex, Hate to Love, Healing, Heavy Angst, High Warlock of Brooklyn Magnus Bane, Implied/Referenced Torture, Love/Hate, M/M, Mutual Pining, Please Don't Hate Me, Slow Burn, Smut, Warlock Alec, Warlock Magnus Bane, Winged Alec Lightwood, demon alec, edom, kinda ptsd references, soulmates?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:14:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 43,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27942098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightwdslevi/pseuds/lightwdslevi
Summary: It's been four years now ever since something dark has taken over New York at night. Endless souls were murdered by nothing more but a monster. Every single Shadowhunter in New York is doomed to find him, the person who is in charge of haunting the streets at night. Numerous Warlocks have tried to take him down, but no one was yet able to catch the devil.What seemed like an easy task at first keeps the Shadowhunters wide awake at night. That's until one day, Isabelle Lightwood a step closer to taking down the target. And by his side is no other than the new High Warlock of Brooklyn: Magnus Bane.But will Magnus be able to take down the enemy that seems to be unstoppable?
Relationships: Helen Blackthorn/Aline Penhallow, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Maia Roberts/Isabelle Lightwood
Comments: 57
Kudos: 120





	1. Rush Hour

**Author's Note:**

> oh here we go again! Up to a new journey, filled with angst and dark secrets!
> 
> welcome to Nightcrawling To You/#nctyfic! 
> 
> this fic is sitting in my docs since may? maybe june, I honestly forgot the time. anyways, this idea has been with me for over a year now and thanks to Alaska (@strawbcrryzuko) this even happened in the first place. So far I've wrote over 80K words for this fic but haven't gotten to it for a while now. By posting the chapters, I really hope that my motivation will return more than ever! College is taking a lot of my time now but when I was rereading, I figured why I loved the idea so much back then. 
> 
> I hope you will enjoy this wild ride of a slowburn again! I'd be honored for every kudo, comment and maybe even a live-reaction on twitter? <3 make sure to use the #nctyfic if you want me to react to it! 
> 
> thanks to my beta @softlymalec for reading through this for me! 
> 
> now, let's get past the talking and enjoy the first chapter of Nightcrawling To You! 
> 
> Twitter: [@lightwdslevi](https://twitter.com/lightwdslevi)  
> Playlist: [click here!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/066rV31wpDebs6064BxvCh?si=J9BonViZSPyL4gw9MMbFhw)  
> xX, kim

**Nightcrawling To You**

  
  


Alec couldn’t remember how many cigarettes he had smoked already in the last forty minutes, but that weird feeling was still sitting inside his bones. He felt numb. 

_Numb._ Usually, he was grateful for every second that he didn’t destroy innocent souls or broke into houses to scare away people. Feeling numb meant he was normal for the time being. He wasn’t controlled by any dark magic that sat inside of him. 

Usually, his dark powers took over around midnight when the streets of New York got filled with teenagers partying in clubs, taking drugs, and getting so drunk that they’d end up vomiting inside of their Uber’s car. When the alleys got patrolled by Shadowhunters, trying to dispose of whichever demon might attack the mundanes during that night.

But most of the time, it was Alec attacking them. 

He scoffed quietly, his shoulders following his movements. He looked down from the top of the skyscraper, seeing the blur of the tiny traffic lights from the cars rushing through the street. He appreciated the people when he was feeling nothing but numb. They had no idea how _miserable_ their lives could be in reality. How lucky they were not to be a part of the Downworld. How lucky they were because they weren’t a monster.

Alec sighed deeply, squeezing his eyes just enough to identify the mundanes. Alec’s vision was insanely good. Even from the top of the skyscraper, he was able to identify different people running through the alleys and streets. He could detect the nearest team of Shadowhunters patrolling and even smell the nearest Werewolf. 

No one was able to catch him, _never._

He took a drag off his cigarette, taking in the drug, inhaling the nicotine, feeling how his lungs worked against the smoke, and throwing his head back to watch the stars. It was a bright night; the full moon was about to hit its peak. He blew out the smoke through his mouth, forming tiny circles. He saw a plane flying by right above him. A smirk settled over his lips. How _pathetic_ the human species was, thinking they’d be able to fly by building a plane out of metal. 

Alec knew the feeling of being free and flying across the Hudson River within seconds when needed. He knew how it felt to be mobile. And even if he couldn’t reach a destination by flying, he could simply snap his fingers to open a portal. A human would never be able to catch up with him. Even by plane, they didn’t stand a chance.

He looked back down to the streets of New York. He felt the wind sliding through his feathers. It got more chilly nowadays; autumn was around, meaning the nights got colder and longer. 

Which wasn’t exactly a bad thing for someone who lived in the dark. 

Alec closed his eyes and enjoyed the howling of the wind, the muffled sounds of the life underneath him. He enjoyed sitting here, every night, every day of the week. He loved watching the city falling asleep. Every once in a while, he checked the time and looked over to the highway to see if the traffic calmed down yet.

He couldn’t wait much longer if he wanted to take a quick drive before doing what he _didn’t_ want to do. But it seemed like he wouldn’t get the time to do that for now, since he felt how his wings started to itch, how his bones began to hurt. He knew the time came around, the time of _working_ as a monster, eating souls and destroying lives.

Alec took one last, deep drag before he flicked the cigarette off the roof with his fingers, watching it fall onto the street beneath him. He cleared his throat before slowly getting up, breathing out the last bit of smoke, and flicking the dirt off of his pitch-black jeans. His wings started itching badly, and Alec knew it was time to let go of the control. To let himself fall into the deep hole of nothing but _darkness_. 

The darkness seemed to be his best friend and yet his biggest enemy. 

He never knew what happened in that period of time, never knew what he caused, who he killed, or what he destroyed. The only time he was able to remember the things that he did was when he was asleep. Nightmares followed him around everywhere, no matter when he went to sleep. 

Which was why he had stopped sleeping at all. After all, he was a warlock. It wasn’t a hard game for him to stay awake, though his bones would’ve loved to rest at least once in a while. But Alec couldn’t bear to see what he had become, the kind of _monster_ he turned into just a few years back. He lost everything that he was starting to build up for himself from scratch. He was a good man once, loved by the Downworld, and accepted by the Shadowhunters. He helped people, taught warlocks new spells, and tried to secure the mundanes. 

He had a purpose in life. 

And it meant a lot to him. He never thought he’d find acceptance and respect since he was so different, powerful _unique._ Alec was only twenty-four years old, yet he could kill off all the new High Warlocks who tried to take his place, which got taken from him due to his violent acts when his dark magic took over. 

Alec didn’t blame them; he couldn’t. It was no one’s fault what happened to him except his own. 

He was simply too powerful for their world, hence why he probably deserved to be a monster. 

Alec gently stretched his wings, letting them crack quietly, flexing each wing on its own, closely followed by his hand, before cracking his knuckles and neck. He pulled his wings forward to take a closer look at the darkish red glowing feathers. He carefully caressed over the feathers, feeling how hot they have gotten already. They seemed all fine for now. He took a deep breath before he closed his eyes as he turned on his heels: one last breath, one last second of feeling the wind howling between his feathers. 

He let himself fall off the building, letting his wings take over, and with that, the dark magic, which was sitting inside of them, inside of his body. He tried to shut down his thoughts and emotions before he felt his wings flapping loudly. And that was the moment he stopped caring, stopped feeling so numb, stopped being himself. He let the rage take over, his other side, his _demon_ side. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Alec couldn’t remember anything, but he woke up in a car all of a sudden. And he was the one driving. He blinked a few times, looking around himself. His hands were covered in dry blood. Alec looked in the car’s mirror, realizing he was on the highway, sitting inside of a red Ferrari 458 Italia. He had no idea where the car came from, but a smirk coated his lips when he heard the sound of howling. The windows were open. Alec was able to listen to the wind buzzing through the high speed that he had revved up. The engine growled deeply underneath the hood. And he would've lied if he had said he didn’t enjoy the pace. He loved speed. He loved cars that wouldn’t stop at a hundred MPH. 

He loved the feeling of sitting in a car that could cause him death. 

He loved the race. 

Alec looked at the rearview mirror, seeing that no one was behind him or in front of him. He licked his lips briefly before hitting the speed pedal, letting the engine roar before he started flying over the highway. There was barely any car on the street—maybe ten or twenty each mile, driving home after their nightshift. 

So Alec leaned back, pressing the pedal down even further and enjoying the engine’s sound, the display of the speed going up and it didn’t seem to stop. He didn’t know what the speed limit was, and honestly? He didn’t really care. 

Alec started changing lanes, going from left to right and in reverse. He realized that the sun was beginning to rise right in front of him, telling him that he needed to escape into his shelter soon. He couldn’t risk getting seen by cops or, even worse, by Shadowhunters. 

Alec looked up to the mirror once again as he heard the sound of a siren nearing behind him, slowly trying to catch up. It was a cop. The warlock rolled his eyes, pushing the car to the right side without hesitation, off the highway, and into the city. He couldn’t waste any time to find a good alley for his escape. However, the cop wasn’t that stupid. He followed him for a while, until Alec drove through a red traffic light, dodging a truck passing by on the street. His body was filled with adrenaline and he couldn’t stop it from flooding his body completely. He enjoyed the feeling of getting high in dangerous situations, risky places. 

And yet he needed to pause his fun; his wings were aching in pain, telling him to let them free. But that’s exactly what Alec wanted to feel, what he needed to feel. _Pain._ Pain told him that he was still alive, that his heart was still beating and he didn’t just imagine it. Pain and being high, filled with adrenaline - those things told him that deep down, he was still human. 

The sound of the siren became louder, more audible for Alec. He looked into the mirror again to realize it was more than one car now. A smirk formed itself upon Alec’s lips. He was being chased. 

And they didn’t realize that they stood no chance against Alec. 

Alec drove past the cars beside him on the street, risking his life and knowing it would stop the cops for the time being. The engine howled through the whole street, making Alec feel even better than ever. He stopped at a wide alley, turning the car and driving into the alley backward, making sure no cop followed him. He stepped outside of the car, closed the door quickly and stretched out his wings. The sun hadn't hit the streets yet, only started rising at the top of the Hudson River.

Alec felt how his right wing cracked for a second before the pain faded slowly and he was ready to fly. He heard the sirens becoming more and more audible, sending him the signal to leave as soon as possible. So he did, he flapped with his wings to get a push upwards before leaving the ground in seconds. He didn’t look back but instead around himself once he was in the air. 

And that's when he sensed the Shadowhunters that were nearby. He looked around for a while until he spotted them on a roof, not far from him. They were looking for something, _someone_. 

Probably for him.

Alec used the houses sprinkled over the streets as cover while getting closer to them, trying to catch what they were talking about. His hearing was excellent, yet it didn’t reach that far. 

Alec flew up higher, getting closer to them with each flap of his wings. Yet he had to remain silent. His wings were strong, even stronger ever since he woke up with the curse of the dark magic inside him. They made a very audible noise when flapping, holding Alec in place. 

Alec narrowed his eyebrows and tried to concentrate on them. Four men were standing on the roof, all of them having a bow in their hand, and a young woman, black, long hair, a bracelet in the form of a snake around her wrist, and a rune covering her neck. 

Alec tilted his head as he heard her words. 

“We know he’s always around Brooklyn, several policemen call about someone driving sports cars on the highway each night after the chaos that he’s causing. We know he’s here, and we won’t let him escape anymore. Keep your eyes open.” She had a rough, demanding voice, but somehow Alec could tell that she was exhausted. Tired. 

They tried to catch him for the past four years, no wonder why they got tired of trying. It was hard catching the devil. 

They had made improvements with their gear, having arrows with adamas on them to make his skin burn or arrows that were charged with electroshocks to paralyze him. But they had never hit him. He was too fast for them. 

Alec took a closer look at the young woman. Her face seemed familiar, though he was sure he’d never seen her before. But she had something about herself that told Alec she wasn’t a bad person, she wasn’t someone that would just kill him. But maybe Alec was just imagining things at this point, trying to see the good in his enemies. 

“HEY!” someone yelled at his direction and the young woman turned to face Alec all of a sudden, who hadn’t noticed that he flew towards them, quietly and without making noises. He was basically right in front of them at this point. They pointed their bows at him when the young woman activated her bracelet and held the silver whip in her hand seconds later. 

The warlock blinked a few times until he realized what was happening. They could shoot him any second. He had to leave if he wanted to stay alive. 

Alec let himself descend, making them scream in frustration, running to the edge of the roof to look after him. Meanwhile he took a turn while going down and spread his wings to gain height again. He flew around the building without any problems and started gaining more speed, flapping his wings more often, more powerful. 

Within seconds he was out of their sight. A devilish smile grew on his lips. He had beaten them once again. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Isabelle took an exhausted breath as she turned to her co-workers. She glared at them with burning eyes. They almost had him and yet someone had to ruin it again with their eagerness. 

“You’re an idiot, Steve,” she stated coldly before she activated her staff. It only took a second until it formed into the bracelet again. 

“I’m sorry, Isabelle.” 

“Are you though? Why did you need to yell when he was right there? It’s not like he's gonna hand himself over just because we saw him!” Isabelle seemed angry; they’ve been searching for the warlock for a few years already. And since her mother rested the lead of the Institute and Aline, Isabelle’s cousin, was in charge now, they changed their plan. They wanted him dead or alive. Anything to put him down. The chaos that he caused was immense and it had to stop. He was killing innocent humans around the same time each night for no reason. 

But something in Isabelle told her that the face she looked into seemed friendly. No one knew anything about him, they didn’t even have his real name. 

He used a lot of names to hide his real identity. They basically had nothing from him, not even a location. 

“I really am, I ruined the mission,” Steve said quietly, putting his bow down. They all were exhausted. It just didn’t make sense to them that the person who once helped them secure the streets of New York turned into a monster, into their enemy. 

“It’s fine… let’s head back to the institute and tell Aline about it.” Isabelle looked to the sky once again, thinking about what fascinated the warlock that much just minutes ago. Something held him from hiding from them. And she had no idea what caused it. 

They all headed back to the institute and reported what they saw and what had happened to Aline. Isabelle didn’t say a word the whole way back. She had never seen the warlock that close before. She was able to see his eyes, glowing in a dark shape at her, but they were also looking warm, friendly, & familiar. Something about him made her question the mission. What if deep down, he was still the good person he once was? What if he wasn’t doing anything on purpose; what if he stole the cars without knowing it? There were so many questions in her head, telling her it was wrong to hunt him down without asking questions. 

“Hold on, you’re telling me you yelled at him when he was distracted, instead of shooting directly at him?” Aline’s voice sounded loud and clear near Isabelle and she flinched out of her thoughts to face Aline, who was glaring at Steve with anger. 

“Yes, Ma’am. It was my fault, I’m sorry.” Steve seemed defeated, disappointed in himself. He didn’t face her, looked down at his own feet. His voice was filled with guilt.

“Aline-” Isabelle said slowly. 

“No Isabelle, you know it’s our job to take him down. We can’t risk losing him again just because one of you decided to yell at him before shooting. This was the perfect opportunity.” 

“He was flying, Aline. He wasn’t on the ground. If we’d have shot him, he’d have dropped on the ground and probably would’ve died before we could even ask a question,” Isabelle interrupted her cousin again. She didn’t support Steve’s attitude, but it wouldn’t have been right to just open the fire at him. 

Aline looked over to Isabelle. “You’re probably right, but next time… don’t just yell at him, do you understand me, Underhill?” Aline looked back at Steve, who nodded at her without saying a word. 

“Dismissed,” Aline said eventually, and everyone including Isabelle wanted to leave the office. 

“Izzy,” Aline held her back with a warm voice. Isabelle stopped and turned on her heel, facing her with a soft smile. “I gotta talk to you about something.” Aline cleared her throat before getting up from the chair. She walked towards Isabelle, who had closed the door again. No one needed to hear what Aline wanted to tell her.

“Your mother… is constantly looking at his file.” 

“What file?” 

Aline looked at her and raised her eyebrows. And it clicked. 

“The warlock’s file?” Isabelle leaned against the wall and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “What do you mean by constantly?” 

“I mean all the time, but every time I approach her she’s closing the file. And even though I’m head of the institute… I just don’t wanna force her to tell me, you know? But I think she either knows something, or is suspicious about this whole thing. I just know this is important, and we have to turn him in. The warlocks are fearing him and even though we got a new High Warlock of Brooklyn right now… I don’t know if it will be enough. He gets stronger every day, feeding from the fears of the humans and the deaths of downworlders. It has to stop. And if your mother knows anything… you have to tell me.” Aline seemed desperate; this case is affecting everyone, every downworlder and shadowhunter living in New York. And it’s a threat to the mundanes. 

Isabelle took a deep breath, but she nodded. “I can try, but I can’t promise you anything. My mother is very… quiet about things.” Isabelle couldn’t explain why, but her mother never told her anything. She always kept stuff to herself until the last second, that’s how Isabelle was raised. 

Aline smiled at her. “It’s worth a shot,” she acknowledged warmly. Isabelle smiled back at her before there was a knock at the door and Helen strolled through seconds later. 

“Oh!” she yelped in surprise. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt a mission talk.” 

“It’s fine, we just finished anyway,” Aline reassured her immediately. She looked over to her with warm eyes. Aline opened the door for her and let Helen in, kissing her as a way of greeting her. 

“How are you?” she asked her quietly. Helen nodded at her. 

“I’m good, don’t worry about me. I brought you the files you asked for,” she replied before handing them to her. She looked over to Isabelle. “How did it go?” she wanted to know. 

Isabelle scoffed quietly, before pushing herself off the wall. “Don’t even ask about it. We saw him, but that’s it about it. Underhill yelled at him and he escaped, after observing all of us for God know how long.” 

Helen chuckled before rolling her eyes and facing Aline again. “I told you, you should’ve chosen me for this mission.” 

“I’m not letting you near a warlock, honey. We don’t know what he’s capable of when he’s facing a half nephilim, half seelie,” Aline insisted with a demanding voice. She cared about Helen, a lot. She was the first one, openly loving a woman, who was half downworlder, who led an Institute. 

Isabelle looked up to her, she wasn’t just her cousin but also a role model of Isabelle. Aline wasn’t afraid to fight for equality in the Shadow World. She just introduced Helen to her family and to the whole insitute when she became Head of the Institute. And Isabelle really loved them. They were the perfect couple, working hand in hand. Helen was doing a lot of bureaucracy work behind the scenes, writing new cases down or adding new information to files. And Aline thanked her for that. They also worked hand in hand with Isabelle, who was the lead for every mission outside the institute. She denied the position as head of the institute, enjoyed her freedom as a normal shadowhunter. 

Besides, she wouldn’t be able to meet her girlfriend at night, after work, if she’d have chosen to be the leader. 

“I’m gonna go and see after my mom.” Isabelle said eventually. She nodded at both of them before leaving Aline’s office, making her way up to the main hall. Every shadowhunter was standing in front of the screen, reading through the warlock’s case again. 

They had a lot of names for him.

Sky,

Gideon, 

Aiden. 

He used all of them in the past years, and yet they were pretty sure that none of them were his real name. 

Some of the shadowhunters looked at a specific case about a demon called Nocturne, causing darkness around the city at night. But most likely everyone else was staring, studying the case of the warlock. Everyone needed to be prepared if they were to get attacked by him. 

And eventually, Isabelle saw her own mother standing in front of a screen, reading about the warlock, Gideon, or whatever his name was. Isabelle took a deep breath and threw her hair back before approaching her mother. 

“Mom?” she tapped on her shoulder, causing her to flinch. Maryse turned around within seconds after closing the file of Gideon. 

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” Maryse seemed tensed and nervous, constantly stroking her dress. 

Isabelle raised her eyebrow in suspicion. “Aline asked me why you’re always studying the case.” 

“Which case?” 

Isabelle leaned back, crossing her arms and tilting her head. “Seriously Mom, you just closed the file. Don’t play me. I’m your daughter.” 

Maryse looked back at the screen, taking a deep breath before facing her daughter again. “There’s nothing to worry about, Isabelle. I’m just very invested,” she tried to diffuse the situation. 

“If there’s anything you know, you gotta tell me, Mom.” Isabelle took a deep breath, before turning her neck to stretch it. “My whole body is tense and exhausted. I gotta go to bed for now, but I’m begging you Mom, don’t stay silent.” Isabelle looked at her with concern, but Maryse just nodded with a weak smile. She loved her daughter dearly and knew that Isabelle did everything in her powers to win this fight against the devil. 

Maryse watched her leave the hall, before she turned back to the screen and opened the file once again. She observed the picture of Gideon. Something about him seemed familiar, and yet Maryse couldn’t tell what it was. She was reading through the things that he had done in the night, about which people were found dead; she also read about the car that he stole. 

Something just didn’t add up for her. He didn’t seem to be able to do all of this. And it didn’t make any sense to her that he just turned dark a few years back, becoming the enemy of them, when he once helped them secretly. She knew something was wrong, but she had no proof, no hint about what was going on with him. 

She just knew it wasn’t right to hunt him down. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


“What happened down there?” the famous dark voice appeared behind Alec’s back, who had just lit himself another cigarette. Nocturne approached him slowly, sitting down next to him and enjoying the sunrise from the peak of New York. 

“You saw me?” Alec asked before taking the first drag. He handed over his box to Nocturne, who took one with a smirk before lighting it up with his fingers. 

Nocturne was a demon, a friend of Alec who once was nothing more than a tiny demon being trapped in Alec’s pentagram. Alec tried to summon his dad several times, tried to find out who turned him into this monster. He failed. He had no chance summoning a demon that large, when he had these useless powers compared to him. But he summoned a lot of demons out of hell, talking to them, finding out that his father was definitely a greater demon. Yet he still didn’t find out his name. What he found though, was Nocturne. 

A memory demon, feeding off memories from normal humans. Alec was supposed to send him back to hell when all Nocturne knew was that he was probably the son of a greater demon, but he didn’t. 

He didn’t because Nocturne hit him close to home when he told him that he was lonely, needed a friend. 

Alec never questioned how Nocturne was able to tell, but something told Alec to give in back then. And he did. 

He let him free, under the condition that Nocturne won’t harm a human, or Alec would send him back to hell within seconds. It was traumatizing enough that he was the monster of them already. 

But Nocturne didn’t lie, Alec always felt alone, lost. He never had parents, or at least never met his real mother as far as he can recall. His father was a demon, probably a great demon by the amount of powers Alec possessed. His foster families gave Alec away, handed him over to a new family, which then handed him over again. Simply because he couldn’t control his powers as a kid, nor hide them. 

When he was five years old, his wings started to grow. They made him scream in pain at night. He tried to hide them for another five years underneath pullovers and oversized shirts, but by the time he hit the age of thirteen, he left his foster family for their sake. 

He became independent, without a home, without a family, without a single friend. Without anyone to rely on. He told himself he’d take care of the people in the city he was living at around that time. It was somewhere in Atlanta, if he recalled right, but something drew him back to New York when he was seventeen. He heard that they were looking for a new High Warlock in Brooklyn - and Alec gave it a try. He helped everyone, without asking questions, nor talking to the shadowhunters. He respected them and their work until he got the curse, but he never wanted to interact with them, ever. 

“Well you weren’t quite invisible on the highway. Where did you get the car from anyway? Did you use your magic, or?” 

“No idea,” Alec replied before taking another drag off his cigarette. “I came back to myself when I was already sitting in the car. I didn’t question it, just enjoyed the race.” Alec was raising his hand to show Nocturne the dried blood on his hands. 

“I see.” Nocturne looked down the skyscraper. He didn’t have any wings, but was able to portal anywhere he wanted to, using his raven form. “Why are you still up here? Shouldn’t you start hiding, the sun is rising.” 

“I know, I’m just enjoying it for the time being.” Alec took a deep breath of the fresh air. It would be a good day. “My wings are still aching, so I’m just giving them a rest.” Alec stretched out his wings, letting them snap forwards a bit. “They’re still glowing hot,” he explained before looking at Nocturne, who just tilted his head before reaching for the wings.

“Come on, it can’t be that bad,” he said, burning his hand on them a second later. 

“Fuck me, man!” Nocturne pulled his hand back in pain, blowing cool air on it. Alec didn’t face him, looked at the sky while he smirked darkly. 

“Don’t ever touch me again, Nocturne.” 

“Noted,” the demon said quietly. He was still blowing cold air on his hand to secure the burned skin. He took another look at Alec’s wings, realizing they were darker than usual. He guessed it happened because of his dark magic. 

“Are your wings always that dark after your dark side takes over?” He asked nevertheless. 

Alec nodded in response, still looking at the sky. He couldn’t explain why, but he noticed as well. 

“I saw a patrol of Shadowhunters today,” he started, before looking at Nocturne. “And I stopped while flying, approaching them instead of leaving.” 

“And why is that? You wanna get chained up in the City of Bones?” Nocturne chuckled quietly, taking a drag off his cigarette as well before looking at the sky. 

“I don’t know why I stopped. There was this girl in the group-”

“I thought you were into dicks,” Nocturne interrupted him immediately, causing Alec to roll his eyes and press out an annoyed moan. 

“Will you shut up for once?” He hated being interrupted while explaining something to his friend. He really did. 

Nocturne raised his hands in defense and nodded silently, giving him a sign to continue where he left off. 

Alec took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment before opening his mouth again. “There was this girl and she seemed… familiar? But at the same time she didn’t? I can’t really explain it but it felt like I knew her from somewhere. Though I’ve never seen her before.”

“Maybe you killed her in your dreams already,” Nocturne replied. Alec glared at him directly. 

“No, I haven’t.” 

“Would you know though?” Nocturne's words hit deeply. He was able to read Alec’s mind, could see that he wasn’t sure about it. But Alec didn’t know that Nocturne was able to read his mind, that this was his power. And Noc never told him, used it for his advantage. At the end of the day, he was still a demon. 

Alec got up without saying a word. “I’m gonna head home.” 

Home. Alec never had a home, it was more like a shelter. An old factory, that’s where he lived. He hated it, but at least his wings wouldn’t get soaked in water when it was raining. 

“Okay,” Nocturne said while dragging the last bit off his cigarette. He snapped it off the roof before getting up as well. “You’re not hungry?” he asked before facing Alec. He knew Alec needed to eat, to drink, to sleep. And though he knew Alec didn’t sleep for at least a month now, he wanted to make sure that he was at least eating something.

“No,” Alec replied coldly, brushing the dirt off his jeans before adjusting his leather jacket. His wings were still hot, but he needed to be alone for the time being. Though he appreciated Nocturne for being his friend, he needed some time off. He was a loner after all, wasn’t used to other people, or demons. 

“I got caught by a patrol today, near the central park,” Nocturne explained all of a sudden and caught Alec’s attention. 

“What? I told you to be careful. You can literally transform into a crow, Noc.” 

“I know. You don’t need to lecture me. It happened, what can I do about it?”

Alec growled deeply, before approaching Nocturne. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and raised an eyebrow, teeth gritting. “And they didn’t inform someone to send you straight back to hell?” 

“Well they told me there’s a new High Warlock in town for Brooklyn. Thought I’d let you know.” 

A smirk appeared on Alec’s lips. “A new victim, huh?” he chuckled quietly, letting his feathers wiggle up and down. 

Nocturne chuckled as well. “You’ll never let them live in peace, hm?” 

“Can’t beat the devil, can you?” Alec shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not the one attacking them. They’re the ones that want to take me down. It’s self defense.” He smirked at Nocturne. 

Nocturne looked at him. “You know, Alec… if you wouldn’t be such an asshole, I’d take you.” Alec looked towards him, observing his face slowly. Every detail. Nocturne always had a specific style. He went from wearing solid black to wear every color that was out there from time to time. Right now he had settled for a subtle hairstyle, kinda spiky, but not really. It fit his black hair. His eyes were glowing red all the time, sometimes they were basically shining at Alec with lust. Alec had read the signals over time, yet he never had the intention of actually taking him. Nocturne loved eyeliner for some weird reason, it made his eyes seem bigger, darker. For a few weeks now he had started letting his facial hair grow, showing Alec everything that he had. 

“You mean I’d take you,” Alec corrected Nocturne. He knew that Nocturne had no chance against him. And Nocturne knew it as well. Both of them never knew why, though Alec was so powerful that no demon would ever dare to fight against him. Probably because he was the son of a greater demon. 

“Duh.” 

Alec smiled at him, before he raised his hand to say goodbye to him. “See ya soon, Noc.” Alec stretched out his wings, taking a deep breath and shooting into the air, flying past Nocturne with the sun rising underneath him. 

Nocturne observed him until he was out of his sight. There was something about Alec that Nocturne would’ve loved to have. Though he was evil, he still had this beauty sitting in his eyes. And Nocturne was always quite fascinated when it came to Alec. He took a deep breath and remembered the conversation he had today with the shadowhunters. He wasn’t brave enough to tell him, the fear of losing his freedom was too big. 

The exchange just didn’t seem that _bad_ after all. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Isabelle was on her way to the Hunter’s Moon. She didn’t tell her mother about her relationship with Maia, at least not yet. She always wanted to introduce Maia to her, but she never felt the courage of doing it. Maia was an alpha, the alpha of the New York werewolf pack. She was strong, a leader, _brave._ She told her friends about her love for Isabelle and was very open about their relationship.

But she understood that Isabelle had to fear for her job, her career. After all, Maia wasn’t half nephilim, half downworlder such as Helen.

They kept their relationship a secret, always meeting up when Isabelle had found the time. And today she had a day off, which meant she had a lot of time to spend it with her girlfriend who was a bartender at the Hunter’s Moon. 

When she opened the door to the bar, the music filled her ears as did the voices of the people sitting at the bar. It was most likely a bar for the downworld, but most of them have accepted Isabelle Lightwood by now. They knew she was close to Maia and they kept their secret. And Isabelle learned with each new day, that the downworld was by far more acceptable and equal to each other, than the shadow world. 

“Isabelle!” A lot of people greeted her with their glasses, she just waved to them before approaching the bar, seeing her girlfriend serving a cocktail to someone that she hadn't seen before. It was a guy, taller than Isabelle, wearing a long black coat with different shining metal stones on it. His hair had a red strand and his nails were shining black at her when she sat down. All of his fingers had rings on them. Isabelle never saw him before but she already liked him just by how he looked. 

“Good evening, beautiful angel,” Maia greeted her before leaning over the counter to pull her into a kiss. “Wine as usual?” She asked a second after the kiss and Isabelle nodded. 

Maia leaned back and prepared the wine for her girlfriend, while Isabelle was observing the mysterious looking guy next to her. She made sure to do it subtly, but she didn’t know he was a pro. 

“My name is Magnus, my dear.” He faced her seconds later and raised his glass to touch her glass with his’. “And you are?” he asked with a warm smile. Isabelle saw his incredibly well done eyeliner. Isabelle blinked a few times, before she raised her glass as well.

“Isabelle. Isabelle Lightwood.”

“And she’s taken, Magnus. Don’t even think about it,” Maia interrupted the both of them. 

Magnus looked back at Maia for a brief second, chuckling quietly before looking back at Isabelle. “You do realize I noticed that you two just kissed right in front of me, right?” He asked her. 

Maia shrugged with her shoulders. “I can never know with you, you know?” She laughed with him for a bit before a new customer arrived and she excused herself to take care of him. 

Isabelle still had her mouth open, following the conversation without interrupting them. She raised her hand in confusion and pointed between them. “You know each other?” she seemed confused. 

“We do,” Magnus replied in a calm voice. “I’ve been here for a while already, but haven’t introduced myself around the shadowhunters. I’m the new High Warlock of Brooklyn, my dear.” Magnus smiled at her. 

“So your warlock is from now on also my problem.” 

“You know about the case?” Isabelle sipped her glass while Magnus nodded. 

“I’ve read through it. He’s pretty strong for someone who isn’t very old.” Magnus gestured with his hand to explain the situation to Isabelle. But Isabelle didn’t seem to understand. 

“What do you mean by not very old?” 

“He hasn’t been around for long. I’m over 800 years old, Isabelle. I know the people around here, around Tokyo. That’s where I was until a few weeks ago when my old friend Catarina called me because he killed the latest High Warlock. I understand that he needs to be stopped, but you can’t fight violence with violence.” Magnus paused and took a deep breath. “Whatever made him that strong, it’s not helpful to harm him. He’s only gonna get stronger from this.” 

Isabelle listened carefully to Magnus’ words, but she knew that they had orders. “The clave told us that they want him dead or alive.”

“It’s a warlock, Isabelle. It’s none of the Clave’s business. I have to decide his fate.” 

“So what’s your plan?” Isabelle’s voice sounded desperate, Magnus could tell. She just wanted this nightmare to stop. Her people were exhausted from constantly looking after him, trying to catch something that wasn’t possible to catch. 

“I’ll have to take him to the Spiral Labyrinth. He broke a lot of rules, but he doesn’t deserve death.” 

“He killed innocent people, Magnus,” Isabelle’s voice started to fill with anger. Maia observed both of them, listening to their conversation. She also knew about the ongoing situation with that warlock. She personally never saw him before, nor did he ever enter the bar before everything went down. It seemed like he has been living in the shadows ever since the day he moved here.

“But we will never know why if we just kill him off, Isabelle.” Magnus emptied his drink calmly. “We deserve some answers, we have to prevent this from happening again.” He smiled weakly at her, before lying his hand on her shoulder. “I know this is hard for all of you, but you’re doing your best. My warlocks are also protecting people, but we can’t be everywhere. Besides, he has some pretty useful wings there.” 

“His mark,” Isabelle said and Magnus nodded. 

“Not everyone gets such a handy mark like him.” He asked for a refill and handed Maia a huge tip with a smirk. 

“I like his idea. I approve it,” Maia implied eventually. “Killing him off and getting him out of the way like that won’t solve the chaos he caused. I think it’s fair to ask him questions. Maybe it’s just some kind of demon sitting inside of him and he can get saved.” 

“Maybe,” Isabelle replied sadly before taking a deep breath, sipping at her glass. 

“I just hope you’re right, Magnus.” 

Magnus smiled at her. For some reason it was easy to trust him, Isabelle thought. He just had something about himself that made it easy for people to believe in, to trust him and his words. 

“I’ll be busy for the next few hours, you wanna continue sitting here and talking?” Maia pointed over to the pool tables. “Or you want to have some fun? At the end of the day it’s your day off, babe.” 

“Which I want to spend with you,” Isabelle answered quietly. She didn’t wanna leave the bar. She enjoyed watching her, talking to her from time to time, and observing the people around her. 

And Magnus seemed to like the idea as well. They continued to sit at the bar and talked about a lot of things, Magnus’ previous positions, his work for the clave, his opinion on the shadowhunters, Isabelle’s role in the institute, her relationship being a secret so far. Magnus seemed understandable, he even told her that he never dated a shadowhunter before, since it seemed to break a policy for the shadow world. But he stated that he supported her bisexuality, since Isabelle had dated a man before, a mundane. 

He even told her that he himself was bisexual as well. 

And Isabelle lost track of the time. It was easy to talk to Magnus, hence why she didn’t even notice that she sat with him at the bar for more than two hours already, when she got a call from Steve Underhill. 

“Oh,” Isabelle said while grabbing her phone. “I gotta take this, excuse me for a second,” she excused herself from the bar and stood up to walk over to the corner of the room, where it was much more quiet. 

“Steve?” 

“We got him,” Steve almost yelled into the phone. He was out of breath and Isabelle could tell that he was nervous. Anxiety spoke through his voice. 

“Got who?” 

“The warlock.” 

Isabelle almost dropped her phone. She looked back at the bar to see Magnus and Maia talking to each other, joking around. She blinked a few times before hearing Steve again. 

“Isabelle? What is our next step? He can’t escape… for now at least.” Isabelle could hear the painful screams of someone in the background. Her guess was that it was the warlock yelling in pain. 

“Do not kill him,” she said demanding. 

“But the Clave said-”

“Do _not_ kill him, Underhill. I’ll be right there with the High Warlock.” Isabelle took a deep breath. “Send me your location and we will be there.” She ended the phone call and walked over to the bar once again. She felt nervous, but she had to tell Magnus. 

“Magnus,” she interrupted him. He was just talking to Maia about the latest gossip going around. 

“They found him, the warlock. My people found him and trapped him. I told them not to kill him.” She tried to stay calm, but meeting the monster who killed a lot of innocent souls made her feel anxious. 

Magnus’ pupils grew bigger before he got up. “Did they send you a location?” He still stayed calm, but Isabelle could tell that he didn’t want to waste any time. Isabelle just nodded and showed Magnus the location that Steve had sent to her previously. 

Magnus read through the message before he nodded towards her. “Time to get him.” He looked at Maia and nodded towards her. “Until next time, my dear!” 

“Be careful! To the both of you! I love you, babe!” 

“I love you too,” Isabelle replied before taking her jacket off the chair and following Magnus to the rear of the bar. He didn’t hesitate before placing a portal to the given location. 

He knew the place, once lived there as well back in the 18th century. He looked back at Isabelle and reached for her hand. “You ready?” 

“I don’t know,” she replied nervously. “We’re about to face him.” 

“I know. But don’t forget, he’s also a human.” Magnus smiled at her, before they both stepped through the portal and Isabelle closed her eyes, giving Magnus the control for the destination. 

In fact, she wasn’t ready, she wasn’t prepared for anything. She had imagined how it would feel like to face him, but deep down she wished she would’ve never been part of it. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


_HALF AN HOUR EARLIER_

  
  


Alec sipped on his coffee to stay awake. It wasn’t late yet, but he felt incredibly tired. He had finished his book today and observed the street he could see from his window. Most of the time, he sat on his balcony and enjoyed the day, but today he felt like sitting in the dark would be better. It was cloudy today, raining a lot. Alec couldn’t fly above the city to spend his free time until midnight hit. 

So he waited in his flat. From time to time he went to the balcony to enjoy another cigarette but other than that, his time that he was spending home was nothing but boring. He could’ve tried to catch up with some sleep, but every time he closed his eyes he saw nothing but blood and innocent people dying right in front of his eyes. Kids begging him to stop, women screaming in agony about their children getting killed by Alec before they’d be his next target. He wished he would’ve been able to stop it. But he couldn’t, no matter how strong he was. 

Alec’s wings were aching in pain. He was holding them back when he was standing in his kitchen, trying not to destroy anything or push something off the counter. He was preparing dinner for himself. Though he didn’t feel like it, he needed to eat something. 

He heard the wind howling against the broken window in his living room, it was a good feeling. Feeling the cold brushing against his skin. But all of a sudden he heard the sound of a crow. Nocturne. 

Alec looked up, giving the noise all of his attention. Nocturne flew through his window just a few seconds later, transforming into his human form. He was smirking at him with his red eyes. 

“Well hello there,” he said before approaching him. “I see you’re finally doing something for yourself.” Nocturne sat down on one of the chairs. Alec pushed his mug in his direction before he made himself a new cup with the snap of his fingers. 

“You do know you can just… you know, use your magic for the food?” Nocturne used his hands to point on Alec’s finger to explain his thoughts, but Alec just shrugged with his shoulders. 

“Don’t feel like it. I need to do things slow, otherwise I’ll die of boredom. It’s still raining isn’t it?” He faced Nocturne again after checking on his meat. Nocturne nodded before sipping on the coffee. 

“Still raining. Feels terrible to fly,” Nocturne explained quietly. He was enjoying the warm cup of coffee more than he wanted to. 

“What’s the matter, Noc? Why are you here?” Alec wondered what the hell he was doing here. Normally he went to him if he needed something; a spell, new clothes. But he just sat down and enjoyed his coffee. Besides, Nocturne seemed tense.

Nocturne looked up from his coffee and put it down to raise his hands. 

“Can’t a demon be with his warlock friend?” A devilish smirk coated his lips, causing Alec to raise his brows.

“You’re being cryptic, Noc.” Alec put the meat off the heat and walked over to his window to take a look at the rain. It seemed peaceful outside. Peaceful and quiet. 

Meanwhile, Nocturne snapped his fingers subtly, not audible for Alec, who was carefully brushing his feathers. They were hot, not as burning hot as usual, but still hot enough to give him an unpleasant feeling every time Alec brushed over them. When he turned around to Nocturne again, it didn’t take him more than a second to realize that something was going on. 

“Noc, what is going on?” he stepped closer towards him, looking at him with lightly pinched eyes. He was worried and confused at the same time. His heart started to beat a lot faster by now.

“You’re afraid,” Nocturne said. “Afraid that something is about to happen.”

“Well you’re confusing me right now, Nocturne!” Alec growled briefly. He needed an answer. They were in his safe space, and yet Alec felt not secured at all. 

Nocturne was looking at him with a sad smile. “I’m sorry,” he whispered and Alec raised an eyebrow. 

And finally, he was able to hear footsteps slowly approaching the flat. Alec looked to his door for a second before facing Nocturne again.

“You-” he began but Nocturne didn’t waste any time to throw his cup into his face, which wasn’t filled with coffee anymore, but with water diluted with real adamas. 

And Alec never felt this kind of pain before. 

He screamed in agony when the liquid hit his arm and a bit of his face. His wings flapped forward to secure his body, but Nocturne ran towards him with the ultimate speed of light. Alec didn’t realize what was happening before it started hurting on his hands as well. He tensed, his wings turned darker. 

“Noc-” Alec screamed at him while trying not to break down. His hands were burning in pain. He looked down at them, realizing he was being handcuffed with special adamas handcuffs. Handcuffs that prevent him from defending himself, from freeing him. 

It was a trap. Nocturne _trapped_ him in his own flat. 

“Why are you doing this?!” Alec yelled louder at him, hearing the footsteps becoming louder and they got closer. “Nocturne?!” Nocturne stepped back from Alec, as Alec screamed louder. He had to leave before the clave would decide against him, before they’d take him to hell anyway. No matter what the deal was. 

Nocturne turned away from Alec, who still tried to free himself off the handcuffs, but the pain just wouldn’t stop at all. 

“I’m sorry, Alec.” Nocturne took a deep breath. “You were a good friend, you really were,” he said quietly before closing his eyes and transforming into the crow to leave the scene as soon as possible. 

And Alec couldn’t remember how much time passed until the shadowhunters stormed through his door with bows and arrows made from pure adamas. He felt the anger and betrayal rushing through his body, but he had no chance. The young lady wasn’t with the people, but they didn’t hesitate to start shooting at his wings, hitting the main bone of his right wing, making him yell in pain. He got pinned against the wall behind him, surrounded by shadowhunters aiming at him. 

Alec couldn’t move his hands without being in pain, he couldn’t move his back without risking losing his wing. He couldn’t move anything without being in pain or risking his life. He looked up at them, looking at each of their faces, facing his fate that was about to happen. 

And the worst of it was the fact that they were all smiling at him. 

They got him. They had finally beaten the devil. 

And Alec finally knew what fear felt like. What it felt like to not be _numb._

What it felt like being the victim. 


	2. Caring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome back to #NCTYfic! 
> 
> Let me give you this chapter right before Christmas :) Thank you so much for all the feedback so far! I'm glad you like this story, even though its way more dark themed! 
> 
> A huge thanks to my beta that I found on the malec discord server! (ic_shahada) for looking through this chapter and helping me out a lot lately! <3 
> 
> Now let's go into this chapter <3 enjoy the read and don't forget to use the hashtag if you want to livetweet on twitter! I'd love to see y'alls reaction! 
> 
> Twitter: [@lightwdslevi](https://twitter.com/lightwdslevi)  
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> xX, kim

Magnus didn’t know what to expect from the situation that he was about to face. He had read through Gideon's case a lot. He knew it wasn’t his real name. A warlock wouldn't just reveal his name if he avoided any contact with the shadowhunter even before turning that way. Yet it seemed to be the most common one he used when people encountered him in person. He couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that this young warlock was capable of killing centuries-old warlocks, murdering innocent people and children, destroying property and stealing goods without feeling any guilt. Magnus never heard of him before, as if he wasn't known in the Downworld for long.

He killed Lorenzo Rey some time ago, and another warlock named Iris. He wasn’t afraid of facing strong warlocks, and yet a group of shadowhunters seemed to have trapped him in his own flat. Magnus had no idea how they had even found his location, but he was sure they couldn’t have done it on their own. But for now, it was more important to him to save the warlock’s life before they hand him over to the clave. 

When they arrived at the given location, Isabelle turned around, slightly confused. 

“Where are we?” she asked while looking at all the old, abandoned buildings around. Most of them had broken windows, rusty drain pipes hanging around them, and bricks falling off the roofs. Even nature tried to climb back up, as various plants were circling around the buildings and reaching for the roofs with their leaves. 

Magnus smiled. “We’re in the factory region. Well, the old one. Most of the buildings are empty. The perfect space for someone who doesn’t want to be found.” He explained with a calm voice. He looked for the building that the warlock was supposed to be in, but he didn’t have to look for too long. He heard a loud scream of pain coming from one of the buildings. Magnus felt his heart dropping in his chest. The scream gave him goosebumps.

“I thought you told them not to hurt him?” He faced Isabelle for a moment before walking towards the building. Isabelle followed him immediately. 

“I did!” Isabelle tried to keep up with Magnus, who seemed more than dedicated to get to the house as fast as possible. Probably because the screaming didn’t cease. 

“Well, it seems like they’re not listening to you.” Magnus quickened his pace. He could only imagine the pain that the warlock was in, and it needed to stop immediately. 

They reached the front door of the building and after Magnus figured that the shadowhunters had locked the door, he told Isabelle to step back. Isabelle did as he said and seconds later Magnus formed a blue energy ball in his hand to blast the door open. He looked at Isabelle again who just stood there, clearly impressed, before she activated her bracelet to get her staff. Magnus nodded at her before they entered the building and ran up the stairs as if their lives depended on it. 

Magnus could hear the screams grow louder with each step they took; he felt the pain in his own bones. 

“Do you have any idea how they managed to trap him?” He asked while running up the stairs. The building had five floors, which made it kind of hard to be there quickly.

“No idea, we have arrows made of adamas. Maybe that’s what they used.” Isabelle explained as she was trying to catch her breath. They were almost at the top floor, when suddenly Magnus stopped and turned around. 

“Adamas?” he raised an eyebrow, hearing the screams behind him. There was definitely something more than Adamas. 

Isabelle nodded to him, tense. She heard the screams as well, but at the end of the day it was their enemy. He deserved to be in pain for what he did. At least that’s what Isabelle thought. But standing there, hearing the painful, human-like screams proved to her that it wasn’t the right thing to do. Violence wasn’t the answer. 

Magnus looked at the door to the apartment of the warlock and nodded towards Isabelle before approaching the door, trying to hear the muffled sounds that were coming from the apartment. He heard that the people were mocking him, making fun of him, and causing him pain. Magnus felt the anger rushing through his veins. They didn’t see him as a warlock who broke the rules, they saw him as a monster that deserved to get tortured. 

“You’re gonna take care of your people, you hear me? I will take care of the warlock,” Magnus ordered before he opened the door, not waiting for Isabelle’s answer. The next thing that Magnus saw was a group of shadowhunters standing right in front of the injured warlock. Magnus didn’t count them, he focused on the person trapped against the wall and being choked. And he was screaming in pain - at least he tried to. 

“Get off him!” Isabelle’s voice sounded in rage. She yelled at them to step back, and almost all of them did, except for a blonde man, who wasn’t letting go of the warlock's neck. Magnus was able to detect that he had plunged his seraph blade into the warlock’s side as well, making him beg to stop. 

Magnus focused on the guy, forming a red string of magic as he let it snap forward around the neck of the shadowhunter. He immediately let go of the warlock, who gasped for air. Magnus turned the shadowhunter around with all the force that was in his magic, making him face Magnus. 

“She said get off him,” Magnus said calmly before using his magic to throw him across the room right in front of Isabelle’s legs. He yelled in pain when he hit the floor, but Isabelle took care of him soon enough. Magnus, however, walked straight up to the warlock, who seemed afraid, tense. His eyes were watching Magnus as he tried to free himself of the handcuffs. But he couldn’t move without moaning in pain. His breathing was unsteady, his cheeks wet from the silent tears running down from his eyes.

“You’re fine, let me help you.” Magnus’ voice sounded calmly in his ears. He raised his hands to show the warlock that he wouldn't hurt him. He looked back at Isabelle. “Leave,” Magnus demanded, looking into Isabelle’s eyes pleadingly. He wouldn’t trust Magnus if they didn’t leave. 

“The Clave wants him.” The man stood up from the floor with a dry cough, adjusting his jacket and clearing his throat. “He needs to be turned in.” 

The warlock’s head snapped over to the blonde one who was choking him just minutes before.

Magnus looked at him, tilting his head. “Pardon? This is a warlock, not a shadowhunter. He’s not the Clave’s business.” 

“Well, I was about to kill him anyway. That’s what he deserves.” 

“Underhill, shut your damn mouth or I swear to the Angel - I will,” Isabelle interrupted him angrily. She took a deep breath before facing Magnus again. 

“Will you take him to the Spiral Labyrinth?” 

Magnus looked back at the warlock, his eyes glowing at him for just a second before nodding. “I will. Now, leave this place.” Alec felt how his heart stopped again. He had hope until now. Hope that Magnus will free him and maybe even help him to escape. But Alec was wrong, Magnus was on the Clave’s side. 

Magnus turned around to the injured man again, sutured to the wall with arrows, with the blade plunged into his side and the handcuffs around his wrists. He was in pretty bad shape, yet he didn’t want Magnus to help him. Magnus heard how Isabelle was leaving with her men, closing the door behind her.

“Who are you?” Alec growled deeply at him, trying so hard to get the handcuffs off of himself, but Magnus just stepped closer. 

“I’m Magnus Bane, the new High Warlock of Brooklyn. And if you let me, I can help you and heal your wounds.” 

Alec stopped breathing for a second, heard how his heart pounded in his ears. Magnus Bane was the new High Warlock of Brooklyn. He was basically his enemy, but he wanted to heal him instead of taking him to the Labyrinth right away. 

“I don’t need your help.” Alec growled in pain while gritting his teeth as Magnus pulled out the blade, making him scream. 

“You seem to be in need of help.” Magnus looked into his eyes, telling him to be quiet. But Alec didn’t seem to listen. He was in pain, he wanted to be alone, to be free. He felt defeated, hurt, betrayed by the one friend that he ever had. He didn’t need anyone’s pity right now. 

Magnus took a deep breath after healing the stab wound and cupped his face, making him look at him. He blinked a few times before his cat eyes looked at Alec. And suddenly he calmed down a bit, looking into Magnus’ eyes, focusing on their golden irises surrounding the black pupils. They fascinated him, calmed him down. His whole body relaxed as he let his shoulders drop, accepting that he was in need of Magnus’ help right now.

“I’m not going to send you to prison straight away. I’m just like you. Let me help you, your skin is pretty much burned by the handcuffs and your wings look bad.” Magnus blinked again and his eyes went back to being dark brown again. Alec felt how his body tensed again the second Magnus glamoured his eyes again. Magnus raised his hand to Alec’s right wing.

“You can’t touch them-” Alec yelped in pain once again as he tried to step back from the wall, feeling how the arrow in his wingbone cut deeper, trying to rip out his wings. 

“I have to heal you and I will,” Magnus replied with a calm, yet demanding voice. He didn’t listen to the words of the warlock, knowing he said those things because he was in pain and not used to having an ally. Magnus used his magic to break the handcuffs, seeing how much they cut into his wrists. Alec looked down on his hands, not knowing whether he should defend himself or let Magnus help him. He didn’t say anything to him, instead he was just watching him. He was careful with him, healing his skin slowly. 

“I’m sorry that this happened to you,” Magnus quietly said all of a sudden, still focusing on Alec’s wounds. Alec looked down to him. 

“I can’t blame them. They’ve been trying to catch me for years.” It was the first time that Alec actually spoke to Magnus in a normal tone. Magnus stopped working his magic for a second to face Alec. He looked into his eyes and saw that Alec was smiling at him. It was a genuine smile. 

“And they did. In your own apartment,” Magnus replied, with a small smile dancing on his lips. 

Alec scoffed mockingly before closing his eyes in pain, as Magnus touched the arrow that was pinning him to the wall. “Well, it seems like you can’t trust anyone if you’re a monster,” he mumbled quietly against Magnus’ ear.

Magnus looked at him briefly before starting to form a light ball of blue magic to take care of the wound that the arrow had caused. “I have to pull the arrow out. It’s going to hurt but I’ll try my best okay?” Magnus looked at him and saw that Alec had faced him again. He nodded silently at him before taking a deep breath to embrace the pain that was about to hit him again. It felt like someone was cutting through his flesh when Magnus started to pull the arrow back, healing the wound at the same time to make it bearable for the warlock. 

Alec bit his lips, suppressing the urge to scream in pain. His wings were itching, flinching at the pain that the arrow had caused. It felt like he was burning alive, but Magnus kept going, pulling the arrow out of him with his magic and throwing it on the ground before reaching for the wings to take a look at the injuries. 

“Don-” Alec interrupted him, flinching away from the touch. Magnus raised an eyebrow in confusion, not stopping with the healing process. Alec’s body was shaking in fear and pain and he was looking pale. Magnus knew he was in pain but he didn’t realize how badly it was until he saw his wings hanging down completely. 

“Let me heal you.” Magnus approached Alec again, reaching out for the wings. He touched them briefly, when Alec flinched back in fear. Fear of hurting the only person that was there for him right now. But Magnus didn’t seem to be bothered by his wings, nor was he in any kind of pain after getting in contact with them. 

Alec faced him again, meanwhile Magnus stepped closer to continue with his healing process. And Alec felt his hands gliding over his wings, over the bones and the feathers. And it felt _good_. It calmed his whole body down, making him feel good, alive. He felt something, though he couldn’t describe it yet. He looked at Magnus' side profile while the warlock was healing his wings with such dedication and passion that Alec didn’t want to bother him for now. He gave in, let him do the job and waited patiently. 

In the meantime he tried to process the fact that someone was able to touch his wings without getting burned. And Magnus was just another warlock, not any greater demon that wouldn’t be bothered by the pain. It was _just_ the High Warlock of Brooklyn. His enemy. Who seemed to help him, to heal his wounds, instead of just taking him to the spiral labyrinth. 

And Alec honestly didn’t know why he helped him in the first place. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Isabelle couldn’t remember how long they walked back to the institute, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the screams that she heard coming from the warlock. How Steve choked him while stabbing his seraph blade deeper into him. How his eyes begged for him to stop. Isabelle felt bad that they had to tell Aline about it, felt bad about not feeling good about catching him. They all wanted to catch him, but the second she talked to Magnus about the case it felt wrong to her to just wanting to turn him in without asking any further questions of why he did the crimes.

There must have been a reason for him to act like this. And deep down she wished Magnus was going to find out what it was first before handing him in. All of them deserved an answer. 

“Isabelle.” Steve’s voice sounded all of a sudden. She stopped walking and faced him. He seemed tense, playing with his fingers to overcome his anxiety. 

“I’m sorry. That I didn’t follow your orders. You just said do not kill him and I thought that-”

“Just stop,” Isabelle interrupted him while raising her hand. “You were about to kill him, Steve. You acted against the law. I made a deal with Magnus that he will take care of this situation, of him.” Isabelle took a deep breath. “You acted against the law that we have. Better hope that he won’t hold it against you. We won’t tell Aline about this, ever.” 

Steve looked at her critically before taking a deep breath as he let his shoulders sink. He knew she was right and even though he wanted him to be dead, he had no right to touch him further. He nodded in defense before they entered the institute together. Isabelle immediately told everyone else to go back to their work while her and Steve walked to Aline’s office. They exchanged one last look before knocking and entering the office. 

Aline smiled at them. She seemed happy, relieved. “I already heard... you got him? Is he in the city of bones already?” Aline stood up from her chair to hug both of them as kind of a congratulation sign for them, but Isabelle felt how her whole body tensed in the embrace. 

“Well, actually I met Magnus Bane when I got the call from Steve. He took care of the warlock,” she explained after the hug and Aline faced her again. Her smile faded within seconds.

“So you didn’t get him?” Aline’s voice turned angry. She was supposed to tell the clave that the problem was finally locked up and wouldn’t cause major trouble anymore. But this meant that she had to report to the clave in a disappointing way. Needed to tell them that Magnus Bane, a warlock, took care of him. 

“We did. We trapped him in his own apartment.” Steve crossed his arms in front of him before leaning against the bookshelf standing next him. “I called Isabelle for further orders and she told us not to kill him, because Magnus Bane would take care of him and turn him in later on.” 

“He wants answers,” Isabelle completed Underhill's explanation. Aline looked in between them the whole time before she finally faced Isabelle again. 

“Answers for what?”

“For what he did. Magnus believes that there’s more to it. We deserve to get answers, right?” She looked at Underhill for a moment. “At the end of the day, he’s half human. There has to be a reason,” Isabelle concluded quietly. She believed in Magnus’ words. 

“Well, I hope you’re right. Otherwise the clave is going to freak out, if he’s still flying around tomorrow. I hope we can trust Magnus. I have to talk to him soon.” Aline went back to her desk and sat down. She searched for the warlock’s case file again and opened it. 

“Did Adamas work on him?”

“Perfectly fine, Ma’am,” Underhill replied. Aline nodded without looking at them before writing it down. Isabelle tilted her head slightly when noticing that his file looked differently in Aline’s case folder. Almost like if she’s noted the things that they found out about him. “I have to tell the clave about this, and trust me they won’t be pleased with this answer.” Aline took a deep breath and closed the file again. 

“Why didn’t you call me before letting Bane take over?"

“Because he’s a warlock, Aline,” Isabelle raised her voice a bit. She was tired of the endless fight between the shadow-world and the downworld. “And Bane is the new High Warlock in this district.” 

“I didn’t get to talk to Magnus Bane yet, Isabelle. You didn’t get my permission first.” 

Isabelle knew that Aline was right about this, she broke the rules and didn’t ask for orders from her supervisor. But she thought it was the right thing to do. Isabelle faced Aline again before nodding. 

“I’m sorry, Aline. I will do better next time.” 

Aline looked at her and smiled slightly. She knew Isabelle was a hardworking, dedicated shadowhunter. She knew she could trust her in any way. 

“You both can go now, have a good night,” she said to them before Helen knocked at the office door to tell her girlfriend to finish working for the day. Isabelle smiled at Helen before leaving the room with Steve.

She was tired and exhausted so she went straight into her room to take a shower. Yet she couldn’t stop thinking about the warlock. He seemed to be in a lot of pain and even though Isabelle wanted him to be gone, in pain, dead, in prison for such a long time, facing him and realizing that he was also a human with feelings proved to her that her mindset was wrong all along. They have treated him like a wild animal instead of a human being with feelings. And all of them thought it was okay to treat him like that, to punish him like it. 

She sighed deeply when her head hit her pillow. She breathed in the smell of the freshly washed bed sheets and turned around to face the ceiling. She grabbed her phone after a while to check up on Maia, making sure she got home safe and also apologized for not spending the evening with her as promised. Isabelle’s view on the downworld had changed ever since she fell in love with Maia and the werewolf showed her the good sides of her world. Introduced her to a lot of decent people. Isabelle had found a new home when she was around Maia, which is why her whole view on the warlock had changed over these past months as well. And hearing Magnus’ words made her realize that what they did was wrong. It was wrong to answer violence with violence. She just hoped, prayed for Magnus to find out what caused Gideon to turn into this… _monster_ at night. 

And if he did so, that he was able to help him, to cure him. Because no one deserved to be living through hell every night.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Alec stood at the window in one of Magnus’ rooms. The sky seemed way darker than it did last night. It was cloudy, causing the moon to hide behind the clouds. Magnus had taken him to his loft after healing his wounds completely and locked him in one of his rooms. For _safety_ reasons as he told him. Alec couldn’t really blame him, since Magnus didn’t know him well enough to realize that Alec couldn’t flee anyway. His wings were still aching from the pain and his hands were still burning. Magnus had put a bandage around one of his hands because the injury was bigger than both of them had expected. And it didn’t heal in time. 

He turned around to take a closer look at the room. Magnus sure knew how to decorate his loft, though Alec didn’t understand why he brought him in here. He was his enemy, he was supposed to take him to the spiral labyrinth. But it seemed like he had no idea how dangerous Alec could be. 

Alec took a deep breath, looking back at the window again. It was raining, he wouldn’t have any chance to leave the place if he tried, especially not in his condition. His wings would’ve gotten soaked and they would’ve dragged him down immediately. He thought about what had happened back in his apartment. Nocturne had betrayed him, had told the clave about Alec’s position so that he could continue living on earth. Alec scoffed. Had he really trusted a demon? Did he believe a demon would really be his friend? 

Maybe he deserved all of this in the end. 

He remembered his fear, his fear of _dying_ when the shadowhunter started choking him with that devilish grin. He wanted to see him dead. And normally Alec didn’t feel anything, but this time he felt his anxiety creeping up his legs to show him that he was still alive. 

Though he wished he would’ve got killed. 

He also remembered seeing the woman next to Magnus, the woman that seemed so familiar to Alec and he couldn’t explain why. It was almost like they knew each other and yet they didn’t. As if there was any form of connection between them that Alec couldn’t name. Or maybe one of his victims looked like her, maybe he just thought too much about this whole thing. At the end of the day, he was a loner and he didn’t have any kind of family. He _never_ had. 

What he still couldn’t process was the fact that Magnus helped him, healed him, and brought him back to his own place. His mark fascinated Alec. Rarely did he see such a beautiful and unique mark, which was also that subtle. He could’ve looked at it for hours if Magnus hadn’t glamoured it again. 

Alec felt Magnus’ presence in the room as he heard him putting something on the ground.

“Why did you bring me here?” Alec asked before facing Magnus, who was leaning against the doorframe. He locked Alec in the room, using his wards to keep him inside. He wouldn’t be able to leave the room without knocking out Magnus first. 

“You know what I did to the previous High Warlocks who tried to catch me.” Alec looked down at the tray. Magnus brought a glass of water and a sandwich for him, knowing he was probably hungry.

“Well I didn’t catch you in the first place, I saved you,” Magnus said in a formal tone. 

Alec studied him quickly. He definitely knew what he was doing, knew his powers and was able to hold Alec back if needed. He was smart, smarter than the previous warlocks. A smile lay on his lips. 

“You’re right, you did. But now what? You're gonna lock me inside your loft until the clave finds out?” Alec asked provocatively before stepping closer to Magnus. 

Magnus let his eyes flow over Alec..observing the way he walked, his body language. Something was special about him that Mangus couldn't name yet. 

“Not quite. I want to know what causes you to turn this evil at night. There has to be a reason for it,” Magnus answered his question. Alec swallowed hard, clearing his throat. His mouth was dry, he was actually craving water. 

He didn’t want to cause trouble for Magnus and especially didn’t want to hurt him. 

“You think that’s such a great idea? Talking to the monster?” Alec smirked at him before taking the glass carefully and emptying it with one gulp. 

“I’m not afraid of you, trust me. I’ve been through worse. My previous people just didn’t know how to keep themselves safe,” Magnus added with a smile. “When do you normally turn dark?” He knew which questions to ask, which things Alec could answer in the first place. Magnus was familiar with this kind of magic that took over at a certain point of the day. The warlocks suffering from it usually didn’t know who or what caused the problem in the first place or what they’re doing during the dark magic takes over. 

“Around midnight,” Alec replied quietly after putting down the glass again. 

“Does it hurt?” Magnus asked right away. He was curious but also worried that Alec could get seriously hurt by going through the process in the condition he was in right now. 

Alec looked over to him, smirking slightly before tilting his head. “It shouldn’t matter to you if it hurts me, should it? I’m the bad guy after all. Why don’t you just take me to the spiral labyrinth and we can be done here. You can go on with whatever life you’re enjoying as High Warlock and I can rot in the labyrinth until the day I die,” he growled darkly. He didn’t know why Magnus cared, but Alec knew it had to stop immediately. He had to stop caring for someone who can’t be saved. 

“That’s your job after all, you promised them.” 

He saw how Magnus’ body tensed at the mention of the shadowhunters. He didn’t feel comfortable getting exposed, so Alec tilted his head even further and raised an eyebrow at Magnus. “Why do you care?” 

“Because I don’t think you’re a bad guy.” 

“You could’ve just helped them and moved on with your life. You’re a good guy after all.”

“You once were as well,” Magnus replied without hesitation and Alec felt how he stopped breathing for a second. Magnus’ sentence hit close to home. 

Alec looked on the floor, avoiding Magnus’ gaze. He felt how his wings sank slowly. 

“The thing is, you’re in bad shape right now,” Magnus said all of a sudden after a long uncomfortable silence. “You turn dark at night, you kill people and destroy properties. You’re not only risking your own life but also the lives of innocent people. We have to fix that, and I know that we can. You don’t deserve to be punished for something that’s out of your hand.” Magnus’ voice was calm and steady. He kept looking at Alec until he raised his gaze again to face Magnus. 

And Magnus could see all the pain that he was in. He's suffered in silence for years already, has given himself up to the darkness. 

“I’m not a good person, Magnus,” Alec replied eventually, saying his name for the first time. 

Magnus felt how his entire body tensed at the way he said his name. But it wasn’t in a bad way, it felt good, pleasant. He saw how Alec looked back at the window again, watching the raindrops having a race with each other while running down the window. 

“I’m a loner. I destroy people, feed off their fears and nightmares. I deserve to be punished.” 

“This is your only chance to make things right with yourself and the world around you. It’s no problem for me to send you to the spiral labyrinth if I want to, if I need to.” Magnus paused for a moment, realized how his wings tensed at the mention of the labyrinth. Magnus smiled slightly. He didn’t want to be punished, though he kept saying it. He loved being free. 

And his body showed it clearly.

“It’s on you to make the change.” 

Alec turned around to Magnus eventually and studied him again. He seemed independent, strong, brave. He knew what he wanted and wasn’t afraid of saying it out loud. Yet Alec didn’t know if it was the right thing to do. He approached Magnus, slowly and carefully. When he was right in front of him, only the wards separated them from each other, Alec smirked briefly. 

“There’s nothing to change about me anymore, Bane. I’m a lost cause.” Alec gritted his teeth darkly, making Magnus clench his jaw. 

Magnus loved a challenge, but this one was hard to crack for sure. Magnus checked the time, it was close to midnight, meaning he was about to see in first person what would happen to the warlock once his dark magic crept out. 

Alec stepped back all of a sudden and moaned in pain. Magnus raised an eyebrow at him and stepped back from the doorframe. He didn’t know what was supposed to happen here but he felt that the warlock wouldn't be the same anymore in a few minutes. Meanwhile, Alec felt how his wings were aching in pain, his spine was burning and he grew angrier. He kept telling himself not to lash out, knowing his magic wouldn’t care anyways. 

Magnus saw what happened right in front of him. Alec closed his eyes, took a deep breath, his wings spreading themselves out in the room before he started to scream in pain. And the sound was real. He _was_ in pain. 

Magnus didn’t know how to react at first, thinking it was a normal transition. But something told him that things weren’t going in the right direction. Something inside of him told him that, in fact, the warlock was in pain. Real pain. 

Alec broke down in front of him, the wings glowing in crimson red, falling on Alec as if they’d protect him. All of a sudden it was quiet, so quiet. There was no breathing, Magnus could barely see Alec’s chest rising. He fainted. He didn’t turn. And Magnus knew he had to do something about it, he _cared._

Magnus bit on his lower lip, watching the warlock for quite a while, hoping he would wake up. But he didn’t. 

“Fuck it,” Magnus cursed to himself as he rushed into the room to look after him. He still didn’t know if all of this was part of his transition, since Magnus never encountered something like this before. And yet he forgot about his own life for the time being. He rushed over to his body, kneeling in front of him as he immediately pushed magic into his body, getting information about his condition. He had a slight fever and overall his body was too weak to do anything. 

Magnus kept pushing magic inside his body, making sure he didn’t stop breathing. At the same time he touched the feathers slightly, brushing over them carefully trying not to hurt him. The feathers lit up in a softer tone, glowing after Magnus touched them. It brought a smile upon Magnus’ lips. He didn’t know why his feathers reacted to his touches but it helped the warlock, since his condition got better. 

When Magnus realized that he woke up again, he immediately stopped touching the feathers and got up, drawing a pentagram around him to keep him inside. After all, Magnus was in the room with him now. Sure, he could’ve just left the room again, but he decided against it. He wanted to be by his side when he would wake up, making sure he was okay. 

Magnus didn’t know why he felt so drawn to him already, but something told him that he needed someone by his side right now. And Magnus knew he wouldn’t ask for it, so he stayed, with just the right distance between them. 

Next thing he heard was a growl from the warlock, right before his wings snapped forward in defense, protecting the exposed, weak warlock behind the crimson red. 

“What happened?” he asked, exhausted, trying to remember what had happened in the past few minutes. He pulled his wings back slowly before looking up, seeing Magnus standing on the opposite side of the room, watching him. Alec immediately flinched and got up to jump away from him. But he didn’t get far. He looked below himself, seeing the pentagram outlined underneath him. 

“No worries. We’re both safe.” Magnus' voice sounded in his ears as he looked back at him. 

“You became unconscious. I couldn't just let you die there,” he added in a mumble. 

“You shouldn’t be here.” Alec patted his pants and adjusted his jacket before clearing his throat. “I mean, you shouldn’t be _in_ here.” 

“You can’t escape the pentagram. Don’t underestimate my powers, mysterious warlock.” Magnus smirked at him, making Alec chuckle darkly. 

Magnus tilted his head slightly, watching Alec silently for quite a while. There was something about him that made him smile. It wasn’t just his beauty, it was his whole being. The way he talked and the way his wings wiggled when he chuckled. The way his body spoke for him, because he wouldn’t allow himself to seek help. There was something magical about him. 

“Are you feeling okay?” Magnus asked eventually before he used his magic to check Alec’s condition. Alec growled slightly, thinking it would hurt him, but it felt nice. His magic didn’t hurt or tickled him, it was a nice feeling. Alec could feel the power that was inside of Magnus’ magic, he wasn’t just any warlock. 

“I will be,” Alec replied dryly after Magnus pulled his magic back. Alec tried to stick his finger through the magical wall that was built around him due the pentagram, but he couldn’t. He sighed deeply before sitting down on the floor, leaning against the bed frame behind him. He looked over to Magnus, who had crossed his arms in front of his chest, watching him carefully. 

“For someone who should’ve taken me to the spiral labyrinth right away, you sure do care a lot, you know?” Alec smirked at him, while Magnus took a deep breath and slid down the wall to keep him company. 

“Stop talking about it. I won’t take you there just so that you’ll be all alone again. I’m giving you a chance to help you. And I don’t care if you don’t like the plan, because you gave yourself up already. I’m not just anyone who throws you into jail to go back to my daily life. You’re one of my kind.” Magnus smiled warmly. 

Alec looked at his bandaged hand and sighed deeply. He couldn’t escape, nor could he get Magnus away from him. He had to sit through the night with him, if he wanted to or not. 

“Tell me about yourself.” Magnus stretched out his legs and used his magic to form a little ball in front of him. “When I was nine years old, my mother commited suicide, because she thought she gave birth to a monster.” Magnus looked at the ball the whole time before facing Alec again.

“Catch,” he said to Alec before throwing it. Alec caught it immediately and looked at Magnus. He pinched his eyes slightly, not knowing what he should tell him. He didn’t really have a past. 

“I’m not old yet,” he began quietly, looking back at Magnus to see if he would react to it. He pointed on the ball again, making Alec throw it back to him carefully.

“How old are you?” Magnus asked again before throwing the ball back. Alec eventually realized that the ball meant he was the one to talk now. 

“I’m 24 years old.” He saw how Magnus’ body tensed, how he raised his eyebrows in disbelief and tried to suppress the urge to let his jaw drop. He had never seen a warlock this strong at such a young age. Maybe this was the part about him that was breathtaking. His _powers._

Alec observed him and smirked. It definitely caught Magnus off guard, but he held his wards up. 

“I can’t remember who my real mother is. I’ve been growing up at different foster families, always hopping from one family to the next one. No one ever kept me for long. When I was five, my wings started to grow. I tried to hide them with oversized clothes. I wanted to be normal, but I wasn’t.” Alec paused, taking a deep breath before looking at Magnus again. He was looking at him, watching him with eyes full of pity. He felt his pain. 

“Heck, I don’t even know if my real mother is still alive,” Alec chuckled in self pity. “When I was thirteen, I stopped living at other people's houses. I couldn’t hide my wings anymore, I knew I was a warlock. So I decided to be free, to live on my own, discover my powers. I left the city and returned here when I was 17, becoming the High Warlock of Brooklyn after a while. Because I kept helping the mundanes and the shadow world.” Alec sighed deeply. “I- I don’t know what happened then. It kinda just… happened when I turned 20. I can’t remember much, can’t remember who did it to me or why it happened in the first place. I just know that ever since, I never knew what I did during the nights.” Alec threw the ball back to Magnus, who caught it silently.

He didn’t say anything for quite a while, trying to process what he just learned from the warlock in front of him. Which secrets he shared with him. Magnus faced him again, seeing how he brushed through his feathers, yet they didn’t light up as they did when Magnus touched them. And he also couldn’t touch them for long, before burning himself. 

“I’m sorry you’ve gone through all of this,” Magnus eventually said quietly. “Do you know who your father is?” He threw the ball back and Alec caught it with one hand. 

“No idea, probably some kind of asshole, since demons only act in their own interests.” 

Magnus smiled silently, nodding sympathetically. He knew what he was talking about, being reminded of his own father. 

“I had a demon as a friend,” Alec continued. “I trusted him, thought he’d support me. I was wrong. He betrayed me.” He threw the ball back to Magnus.

“So that’s how the shadowhunters got to you, interesting.”

“You think they would’ve had any chance without Nocturne on their side?” Alec asked without having the ball in his hand. Magnus realized that he got him where he wanted him to be. Alec started trusting him just enough that he was talking to him without needing something in his hand. He threw the ball above Alec on the bed, making Alec look after it. 

“Enough of the class introducing,” Magnus smirked at him. “Tell me more about Nocturne.” 

Alec looked back at him and rolled with his eyes before taking another breath. His head turned to the side, avoiding Magnus’ gaze. He trusted Nocturne. 

“I tried searching for my father, to find out who he is. I summoned a lot of demons back then, asking them if they knew anything that could help me find him. Obviously they always wanted something in exchange; a lost soul, a victim they could feed off.” 

Magnus clenched his jaw, trying to avoid any pictures that would pop up in his mind of him killing innocent people just to find his father. Magnus knew Nocturne; he was an old demon, a shapeshifter. 

And he loved to read minds. 

“Nocturne was different,” Alec continued. “He didn’t want to get a soul. He wanted to be free.” 

“So you let him?” 

“No, not directly at least…” Alec’s voice got weaker at the end, showing his insecurities. Alec closed his eyes and rested his head against the bed frame, feeling his feathers brushing against his collar. “I didn’t want to let him free, but he felt that I was alone, needed a friend. Although I’m a loner, he felt that there was a lot on my shoulders that I carried around by myself. We made a deal that he wouldn’t harm innocent people, otherwise I would send him back. Even after my dark magic took its place… we kept the deal.” Alec closed his eyes in pain again, but opened them to face Magnus. “I was dumb, wasn’t I?” 

Magnus didn’t take his eyes off the warlock, watched his feathers brushing his neck softly, leaving red marks. The feathers burnt his skin after some time, yet Alec didn’t seem to move. He wanted to feel the pain, he wanted to torture himself. 

“I don’t think you were, no. You were searching for a friend. Sadly, demons aren’t meant to be anyone’s friend. Nocturne can read minds, he’s a shapeshifter. He knows how to get what he needs without asking you in the first place. He simply read your thoughts and knew you were all alone, helpless in the need of finding out who your father is,” Magnus declared with a soft and supportive voice. He didn’t doubt Alec, nor his ideas. It was smart to look for his father. Magnus did the same after a few centuries. 

“Did you ever find out who your father is? With the help of the demons you summoned?” He asked nevertheless. But Alec shook with his head, barely visible. 

Magnus smiled slightly, clearing his throat. “You know, sometimes it’s better if we don’t know who our father is. My father is a greater demon, leader of Edom. And sometimes I wish I wouldn’t have looked for him.” 

“Asmodeus?” Alec raised his chin and faced Magnus again with eyes full of shock. He nodded silently. 

“Ever thought about your father being a greater demon himself?” 

Alec bit his lower lip and tensed his shoulders before rolling them to relax. He looked at his hands again, before shrugging. 

“Not really,” he admitted, mumbling. It would answer why he has such a unique mark and an excess amount of powers. 

“Your wings,” Magnus said all of a sudden before getting up to get closer to him. Alec looked up at him and flinched back against the bed frame as Magnus pushed his magic into his body again to heal the burnt skin around his collar. 

“Your wings are burning your skin.” Magnus looked him in the eyes. “Did this start happening ever since your wings started to grow?” Magnus kept his eyes on the dark feathers touching Alec’s skin, burning themselves into it. He got worried about his condition, especially since the fever was still urgent. “Your fever is still there, let me help you.” He continued pushing his magic into Alec’s body to heal his skin and to lower the fever.

Alec shook his head again, before getting up, being on the same level with Magnus. He looked him deep into his eyes. A small smile crept on his lips, not enough to reach his eyes, but enough to get Magnus to smile as well. 

“You really can’t stop, can you? You risk your whole career and life just to ask if I’m okay.” Alec pinched his eyes shut a bit, studying Magnus critically. “Why don’t you just throw me into that cell that’s getting ready for me?” He growled deeply at him while gritting his teeth. He had enough of the past talking, of the sharing of their childhood trauma’s. He didn’t need any help, he couldn’t be saved in the first place. He was cursed, _doomed_. 

Magnus took a step back and inhaled deeply. “Why don’t you just shut your mouth. You aren't getting out of that pentagram. No matter how much you hate me, I won’t turn you in without giving you a chance. Your body speaks for itself. You don’t want to be turned in. Perhaps you’re saying that to get rid of me, to not show any form of weakness, but your body screams for help. It’s burning your skin.” Magnus spoke loud and clear, and yet he didn’t seem angry. He was patient with him, knowing how hard it was to accept help as an immortal. 

Alec looked at him for quite a while without saying a single word. He was impressed. Magnus Bane was for sure not just _anyone._ He was special. A smirk crept over Alec’s lip as he nodded.

“So you feel like making a deal with the devil, huh?” 

“Perhaps. I’d like to try.” Magnus smirked back, clearly seeing the signs that Alec was sending in his direction. 

“You’re gonna regret this later,” Alec mumbled softly against the wards of the pentagram. Magnus could see into his eyes, was able to see the dark aura surrounding his irises. And he didn’t know if it was due the fact that it was still nighttime and the darkness slowly but surely took over the warlock, or if it was his whole being. 

But either way, Magnus knew he was going to help him. 

Alec closed his eyes briefly to nod silently. He was ready to try. At the end of the day, there was nothing to lose. Magnus could help him get better and he would be able to have a normal life again, or he can say no and Magnus would bring him to the spiral labyrinth. There was really just one option. 

“What do you want me to do?” 

“I want to talk to your demon side. Which means you have to be here every night. No excuses. You’re free to do whatever you want during the day time, as long as the shadowhunters, or the clave find out about it. As soon as you feel like it’s about to happen, come here. You’re smart, just use a portal. I will put my wards down for you. I’ll have to lock you in that room every night to make sure your dark magic won’t let you escape in any form or way. We’ll stay in contact through these phones.” Magnus snapped his fingers and two smartphones appeared in his palm. 

Alec was impressed. He did think all of this through already. 

“I don’t wanna hurt you,” Alec added. “You saved me. You have to make sure that I won’t hurt you.” 

“Don’t worry about that,” Magnus replied with a soft smile, which Alec gave back shortly after. “After all, I’m in the room with you because you broke down. I know how to handle any form of dark magic.” Magnus looked at Alec’s wings, which were lifting up slightly, glowing lighter than usual. He saw that Alec felt relaxed, his jaw unclenched itself and his shoulders relaxed as well. 

“Deal?” Magnus asked him. Alec nodded, a corner of his mouth lifting up into a smirk. 

“Deal.” 

They were looking at each other for quite a while before Alec heard the thunderstorm behind his back. He turned around slowly, watching out of the window and raised his wings a bit. Magnus studied his back in the meantime, his strong wings, each feather glowing in that specific red that changed from time to time when Magnus spoke to him. 

“You know,” Alec said in a smoky voice. “I could really use a cigarette now.” 

Magnus looked at him and rolled his eyes. “Ah, well, I guess you have to pass for now.” 

Alec turned around to him again. He scoffed darkly. Magnus’ sass was something else, but Alec couldn’t deny that he was enjoying it. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


It took Magnus some time to fall asleep, but he had to catch up on his sleep. He was tired and exhausted from the whole healing process. He kept checking Alec’s condition, making sure the fever wouldn't rise. Eventually, Alec told him to rest. He would take care of himself in the meantime. And Magnus seemed to trust him enough to do so. He still had the full control of the pentagram, even in his sleep.

Alec was really impressed, kept studying his body and his soft face as he rested, sitting against the wall, facing him. His eyes were closed, his chest was rising slowly. His rings were facing Alec’s direction, reflecting the light of the ceiling lighting. Alec tilted his head slightly, focussing on the rings that had the inscriptions _M_ and _B_. Alec guessed that they stand for his name. Magnus was definitely a fan of jewelry. Alec wasn’t a big fan of it if he were being honest. He always prefered dark clothes that emphasized his body. 

Alec took a deep breath and leaned his head back, hitting the bed frame softly before closing his eyes. He couldn’t do anything right now other than watch Magnus take a nap. Not that he didn’t enjoy it; on the contrary, seeing him sleeping was kind of relaxing for Alec. It felt familiar to be around him, though he's only known him for a few hours. 

He raised his gaze again and looked at Magnus, studying his soft lips and how his hair fell into his face due to the sweat. He seemed kind of angelic to Alec; though he was a warlock, and didn’t have wings or a halo above his head. Normally it would’ve been Alec calling himself an angel, but he was nothing more than a monster. Alec’s mouth curved into a silent smile. Maybe it wasn’t that boring to observe Magnus while he was sleeping after all. 

Alec didn’t check the time and started to play with his feathers until he burned himself. It was nice to feel the pain, knowing that he was still alive. That he felt something, even though it was just pain for now. He remembered how _good_ it felt when Magnus touched them, healed them. He never felt anything like that before when someone touched the wings. Most of the time it hurt himself as well. 

But when Magnus touched them, it felt like the most comfortable and pleasurable thing that Alec had ever felt.

Almost like… _home?_

“Hey,” Alec heard his voice all of a sudden as he flinched back from his thoughts. He faced him immediately. Magnus had woken up, smiled softly at him. He seemed precious, _angelic_.

“Slept well?” 

“Kind of uncomfortable against a wall, but I needed it,” Magnus replied, chuckling. He got up and stretched his arms and legs before he checked his phone. “Did you catch some sleep as well?” 

Alec clenched his jaw, avoiding his gaze without saying a word. He shook his head nevertheless. He couldn’t risk falling asleep with someone else in the room. Although he was trapped in a pentagram, there was still the possibility that he’d escape once he fell asleep and would’ve dreamed of something bad.

“It’s almost five in the morning,” he said before snapping with his fingers as the pentagram around Alec vanished within seconds. Alec looked at the floor before taking a step outside. He stretched his wings immediately, heard them cracking for a brief second. He rolled his shoulder, adjusting his jacket before he looked at Magnus. 

“You’re free to go...to smoke a cigarette, maybe a shower?” Magnus smirked at him before reaching into his pocket to hand him the smartphone. 

“And we stay in contact. Don’t let the clave find you, you hear me?” 

“I’ll try my best,” he replied with a dark smirk before taking the phone from his palm. There was a short moment where Magnus was able to feel his skin, his warmth. And he couldn’t say why but it felt _special_. 

Magnus snapped his fingers again before the wards around the room lifted and Alec was able to leave the house. He took another look at Magnus, making sure he was able to go. Magnus walked out of the room and opened the door to the balcony before he turned around to him once more. 

“You can use the balcony to come here. The door would be too obvious. Keep yourself covered for your own sake for now.” Alec caught up with him before he stopped by his side, looking at him until Magnus turned his head in his direction and Alec avoided the gaze again. 

“Thank you,” he whispered, looking at his feet. 

Magnus smiled softly. “Nothing to thank me for, we’re not done yet. One wrong move and I will bring you to the spiral labyrinth,” Magnus declared strongly. He made his position clear. They were playing by his rules. 

Alec stopped forward onto the balcony. Alec turned around to face the sun before stretching out his wings. It had stopped raining finally and the sun was shining against his back, swathing him in a golden light. The sun was shining through each of his feathers, letting them reflect in a soft red. Magnus smiled at him. He almost looked like an angel. 

But Alec looked at his feet once again, clearing his throat. 

“Alexander,” he said, drawing Magnus’ attention again. 

“Alexander?” 

“My name is Alexander,” Alec explained before turning around to Magnus. “But everyone calls me Alec.” 

Magnus smiled at him. “I’m not just _everyone_ , Alexander.” 

Alec scoffed, smiling, his eyes flying over Magnus’ body. “I know,” he whispered before flapping his wings, pushing himself upwards into the air. Magnus heard his wings flapping, pushing the air down to gain more height, before the sound died off. Magnus stepped outside as well, watching his silhouette getting smaller on the horizon in the morning sun. Magnus’ smile grew bigger. He looked to the ground to find that a crimson red feather had been left behind. He leaned down to pick it up carefully. The feather changed its color the second Magnus’ fingers touched it; going through all the different shades of red before stopping at a soft coral red. Magnus looked up again, but he couldn’t see Alec anymore. 

He looked back at the feather.

Alexander was definitely so much more than just a _monster_ at night. 

  
  
  



	3. Devil's Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome back to #NCTYfic! I hope everyone is staying safe and we will have a better 2021, lol. 
> 
> Thanks to all the lovely comments and the feedback so far! I can see that a lot of people are interested in this and I hope I can fulfill the expectations with this fic =) 
> 
> Don't forget to check out the play-list! I've added four new songs for this chapter! If any of y'all would like to live tweet, as always; don't forget to use the #NCTYfic so I can catch up with the reactions! <3 
> 
> And now, without further ado, enjoy reading !! 
> 
> Twitter: [@lightwdslevi](https://twitter.com/lightwdslevi)  
> Playlist: [click here!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/066rV31wpDebs6064BxvCh?si=J9BonViZSPyL4gw9MMbFhw)  
> with love, kim x

_Don't forget to text me from time to time, Alexander._

Magnus pressed the button before he went to his kitchen to make himself breakfast. He was still exhausted from the night before, which is why he avoided using his magic for the time being. After he took a look into the fridge, he decided on making an egg roll. Although it was already two in the afternoon, Magnus still felt like having breakfast. He stayed up pretty late after Alec left his loft. Mainly because he started to study the structure of the feather Alec had dropped after leaving. 

But he didn’t get answers that night and he knew he wouldn’t get any the next time either. Alec was mysterious and unique. He hadn’t told Magnus much about himself when they had to spend time together in that room, but he did mention his age. Alec was 24 years old and seemed like one of the strongest Warlocks that Magnus has encountered so far. Yet he had no idea who his father was, nor did Alec even think about the idea of his dad being a greater demon. 

Magnus put his food on a plate before he walked over to his living room to enjoy his breakfast on his couch. He didn’t expect Alec to text him back any time soon. He was probably - no, hopefully - getting some rest as well. After all, he was the one getting choked and stabbed by some naive Shadowhunter just the day before. 

But just when Magnus had emptied his plate, someone knocked against his door. Although, it wasn’t an urgent knock. It wasn’t a knock that said: “I need your help, someone is dying.” or: “I need you to make me forget about something”. It was more like a: “I’d like to speak to you,” knock. Magnus could feel that this _someone_ was definitely not mundane since his wards signaled him. Magnus sighed deeply before he got up to walk down the hallway. He had already snapped his fingers by the time he arrived at the door, which meant that it was already open when he got there and he was able to see who it was at his doorstep. 

It was the Head of the Institute, Aline Penhallow. She also brought some other Shadowhunters, Magnus couldn’t tell if she brought them out of protection or out of respect. But whatever it was, he didn’t seem to care. He knew her already, obviously, yet they haven’t had the chance to talk to each other. 

“Aline Penhallow,” Magnus started the conversation with an honest smile. He reached out his head to greet her formally. “Nice to meet you. We haven’t had the time yet.” 

“Which is unfortunate, given what happened last night.” Aline had her arms around her back, trying to be more confident with herself. She always respected the work of each Warlock, but Magnus Bane wasn’t just like any other Warlock. She had heard of him when she was just a little girl. So now that Magnus Bane was the High Warlock of Brooklyn, her respect for him grew even bigger. 

She cleared her throat. “I know I didn’t inform you about any of this, but may I come in?” 

“Oh, I wasn’t ready to see guests today, my loft isn’t exactly ready to have visitors over. But if you won’t mind the mess,” Magnus opened the door more. “You may come in,” Magnus observed both of the Shadowhunters that were standing next to her with a critical eye as he said this. 

“With your two lapdogs, of course.” A sassy grin crept onto Magnus’ lips. He never thought much of Shadowhunters, always respected them in the world but in reality, he never wanted to have to deal with them. They’ve always seen themselves as something bigger, as superior until they were in a crisis. They didn’t care about the rules of the Downworld, about their formalities and rights. They only cared about punishing those who broke one of _their_ rules. 

Magnus led all three of them into the living room, closed the door to his balcony, and leaned against the edge of his counter. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and faced Aline. 

“So, what do you need from me Miss Penhallow? I’m sure if this is just about introducing ourselves, you wouldn’t come here in person.” Magnus didn’t break the gaze when Aline met his eyes. 

“No, Mr. Bane. This is not about introductions, I’ve heard from one of my agents that you took care of our little problem?” 

Magnus knew what she was talking about, yet he tilted his head slightly while narrowing his eyebrows. 

" _Little_ problem?” 

“The Warlock.”

“I understood what you meant, I’m just not quite sure if that problem is really that little. He is stronger than I expected him to be,” Magnus said wisely. “And for the record, it’s not exactly helpful if one of your so-called _agents_ tries to choke a powerful Warlock.” Magnus knew about the brutality that the Shadowhunters used to get what they wanted and yet he couldn’t think about what the Shadowhunter did to Alec out of anger. 

Aline sighed deeply. “My apologies for the behavior of my people. What I wanted to ask in the first place is, did you get the answers that you wanted? Did you get him to the Spiral Labyrinth?” Aline wanted to get past this whole thing, this issue. But she couldn’t stop thinking about Isabelle telling her that Magnus wanted to get some answers first before turning him in. 

“I think it’s none of your business what I’m doing with my people if they break a rule,” Magnus replied dryly. He didn’t want to give in just like that. He didn’t have to explain himself to Aline. Alec was a Warlock, not a Shadowhunter. 

“Are you implying that you let him go?” 

“I’m implying that he is a Warlock and it is none of your business. You trapped him, and I took over the situation. And I dealt with that situation.” 

“He is dangerous, Mr. Bane,” Aline began again after a short time of silence. 

Magnus rolled his eyes. “Should I say the same about your girlfriend? Half Seelie, half Shadowhunter? He’s no different. But to answer your question, no I didn’t let him go. As I said, I have everything under control. He won’t be an issue for your agents anymore.” Magnus saw how her body tensed when he spoke about her girlfriend. Magnus knew Helen. She was a smart Shadowhunter with the abilities of a Seelie. It was a rare thing to find and Magnus had nothing against her, yet he had to mention it. Because he knew Aline wasn’t exactly against the Downworld. 

Aline clicked with her tongue. “Fine, I trust you.” She sighed deeply. “I hope you’re right, Mr. Bane. I don’t want my people to get attacked by some dark Warlock, I’ve lost too many people to him already.” 

Magnus understood her anger and the frustration within. Losing people was never an easy thing to face, but Magnus knew that deep down, none of this was Alec’s fault. He simply didn’t deserve to be punished for something that he wouldn’t have done in the first place. 

“I get that, Aline. And I envy you for your hard work. You just have to trust me, a Warlock, with this.” Magnus looked at the other two Shadowhunter. “Did you bring your company because you’re scared of me?” A smirk lay upon Magnus’ lips. 

Aline shook her head while she giggled. “No, mister Bane. I have respect. And although the Institute is in the hands of women, for now, the Clave wants me to have protection.” 

Magnus felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He excused himself for a second before he fished it out to read Alec’s message. 

_No worries, Magnus. I’m in a small coffee shop for now. Hiding the wings is actually quite hard after some time, did you know that?_

Magnus looked up again to face Aline. “Great, yeah. I get that. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about? I have some clients today that would like to see me, you know?” 

“Nothing illegal going on?” The corners of Aline’s mouth went up into a shy smile. It made Magnus chuckle. 

“Nothing illegal miss Penhallow,” he reassured her. Aline nodded before she cleared her throat, relaxing her body before looking at her people. 

“I guess it’s time to go then. Shall we stay in contact, Mr. Bane?” Aline raised her hand to get Magnus’ attention and with the snap of his fingers, she held a piece of paper in her hand. It was his phone number. 

“Call me if it’s urgent. I’m a busy man,” Magnus winked at her before he led them all to the door. The second the door had closed behind them, Magnus took a deep breath and opened Alec’s message again, only to see that he sent him another. 

_Americano is the shit, Magnus. Real good stuff._

Magnus sighed deeply before typing back. 

_I told you to keep it quiet. Why are you risking the possibility that the Clave could find you?_

Magnus didn’t expect an answer for now, which was why he shook it off and concentrated on his work for the day. Although Magnus kept messaging him all day long, the Warlock didn’t reply a single time. Magnus hoped deep down that it wasn’t because he got caught by the Clave while enjoying a damn Americano, but because he had decided to ignore Magnus on purpose. 

Magnus rolled his shoulders. He had no idea why he wanted Alec to be safe for now, why he had lied to Aline when she was at his place. Why he protected Alec, although he was the biggest threat to the shadow world for now. But he also didn’t regret it. He wanted Alec to have a normal life, well as normal as the life of a Warlock could’ve been. 

And even if it was just drinking an americano in a small coffee shop in downtown Manhattan, Magnus wanted Alec to enjoy all the little things of life without being scared of getting caught or murdered. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Magnus had just finished all of his clients for the day when the clock hit seven PM. There was still no sight of Alec as the sun started to set, so he decided to go see Maia. After all, he needed a drink and wanted to tell her about the whole situation. Although Maia was Isabelle’s girlfriend and Isabelle worked for Aline, Magnus could always count on his best friend. She always kept his secrets and knew that Alec was a Warlock himself. They had talked about this whole situation already before Isabelle had told her about the plan of turning him in as soon as they caught him. 

She didn’t like the plan. 

Magnus arrived at the Hunter’s Moon twenty minutes later, entering the bar with a grin on his lips. The bar was already filled around this time; Warlocks, werewolves, and seelies talking about the latest gossip in the Downworld. He detected a couple standing at the pool table, paying more attention to each other than to their drinks or the actual game. 

Magnus looked out for Maia, and saw that she was mixing a drink for someone. She was laughing at some bad joke that some Warlock told. Magnus smiled at the situation before making his way up to her, sitting down at the bar, greeting one of his old friends. 

“Magnus! Maia said eventually, turning to him with a martini glass in her hand. “Up for a drink?” 

Magnus smiled at her brightly. “Have you met me?” Magnus snapped his fingers and a fifty dollar bill appeared in his hand. He slid it over to the werewolf before taking his drink. 

“Done for today?” Maia asked while cleaning some glasses and drying them off. She grinned at Magnus, her eyes shining full of happiness. She had found her dream job, making people happy with her drinks and her knack for being a good listener. Plus, she already found the love of her life. Isabelle Lightwood may be a Shadowhunter, but Maia never judged her, never paid attention to her blood. She loved her because of her personality, because of her huge heart. 

And Magnus got her, he understood it. Finding the right person took time, and if one had found them, they didn’t care about their family or their jobs. They made exceptions.

“Kind of. Still have stuff to do around midnight.” Magnus sipped his glass. He still debated with himself if it was clever to tell Maia about the whole situation, given that Isabelle was her girlfriend. 

“At midnight? Isn’t that a bit late? Even for you?” Maia took the next glass out of the sink and started to dry it. 

“Well, normally I’d be sitting here to enjoy my last drink, but duty calls” Magnus winked at Maia before turning around to look around the bar. He didn’t see any familiar faces besides some of his clients. 

“Isabelle told me about what happened yesterday night. With the Warlock,” Maia began the conversation. She saw that Magnus tensed for just a brief moment. It was barely visible, but it happened. She raised an eyebrow at Magnus. “It did happen, right?” 

“Depends on what you mean. Me and Isabelle entering the apartment and seeing how her people were choking him? Stabbing him? Yes, that did happen,” Magnus replied eventually after taking a deep breath. 

“Woah, she didn't tell me about that. Was it Underhill?” Maia looked at Magnus, waiting for an answer. Magnus looked at her, raised an eyebrow, and tilted his head slightly. Maia understood his unanswered question. 

“Tall, blonde guy. Pretty naive and stupid to begin with. Isabelle doesn’t really like him, but he's one of her best men.” 

“Yeah, it was him.” Magnus sipped on his drink again. He had almost rolled his eyes when he realized who she was talking about. He couldn’t stand him, though he didn’t even know him. The solid fact that he had attacked Alec, rejecting Isabelle’s order and doing his own thing ticked Magnus off. 

“You know, I envy you. Having respect for those people who can’t respect us.” 

“You know that Isabelle is different. I bet she scolded him the second you were alone with the Warlock. Did you turn him in after all?” 

Magnus looked at her, opening his mouth before closing it again. He took another sip of his drink, clicking his tongue while playing with the glass in his hand. 

“Actually, that’s what I wanted to speak to you about-” 

Magnus couldn’t finish his sentence, because Maia drew all her attention to the next guest that just approached the bar. Magnus knew it could’ve only meant that Isabelle entered the bar. Not something that Magnus had wished for, especially not when he was about to tell Maia what really had happened the night before. After Isabelle and her team left. 

“Babe!” she yelled in Isabelle’s direction. She waved her girlfriend over to her before she leaned over the counter to kiss her. 

“You’re off for today?”

“Nightshift. I have about two hours left,” she whispered against her lips. She turned her head to Magnus and smiled at him. “Magnus, good to see you again. We haven't had the chance to talk since yesterday night.” Maia served her a glass of red wine before taking care of the next customer. 

“Yeah, we haven’t. But I met with Aline this morning.” Magnus sipped on his drink again while Isabelle raised her eyebrow in disbelief. 

“ _You_ met with Aline?”

“Well, she interrupted my breakfast. She came by my place with two of her lap dogs, asking me about-” Magnus stopped himself. He had almost said his real name. “about the Warlock.” 

Isabelle closed her eyes. “Shit-” she cursed to herself before putting down her glass. “I- I’m sorry Magnus. I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble for taking over the situation. It’s just… Aline was pretty angry at us for letting you take over in the first place. Because I didn’t ask her for permission.” 

Magnus chuckled. “It’s alright, my dear. I could handle it. She now has my number in case of an emergency.” He patted her shoulder briefly before Isabelle smiled at him. 

“Thank you for taking care of it. Did you get the answers that you wanted?” Isabelle’s voice sounded friendly; not demanding, or angry. She was curious. Maia also turned around to them again, leaning against the counter while enjoying her cold glass of ice-water. 

“Not exactly everything that I wanted to hear, but he’s with the people at the Spiral Labyrinth now.” Magnus took a deep breath. “I just hope they’ll help him as well, you know? When you had left, he told me to not help him, not to heal his wounds. He was in pain, Isabelle.” Magnus looked at her for the next sentence. “He’s definitely not a monster.” Magnus looked at Maia. “He’s a Warlock, a pretty strong one for sure. But he’s not a _monster.”_

“Did you find out why he became so powerful in the first place? How old is he?” Isabelle wanted to know more details. 

“He’s twenty-four. At least that’s what he told me.” Magnus couldn’t be really sure about that information for yet, but he wanted to share some minor things with Isabelle so that she wouldn’t get suspicious. “There’s definitely more to it. Either his father is a greater demon, or he-” Magnus stopped again, trying to find the right words. “Or there’s something going on with him, that none of us have ever heard of before.” 

Isabelle exchanged a look with Maia before they both looked at Magnus.

“So that means that it’s good that he’s in the Spiral Labyrinth, right? He won’t harm anyone anymore. Especially not if he’s that strong.” The words hurt Magnus. They hurt him a lot. None of them had any idea that Magnus’ father was also a greater demon, one of the most dangerous ones on top of it. 

Magnus cleared his throat and closed his eyes for a second before facing both of them again. 

“Yeah, you’re _probably_ right.” Magnus smiled at them. “It’s probably for the best.” 

Isabelle and Maia nodded simultaneously before Magnus avoided their gaze and looked over at the pool table. Someone was just standing there, next to the jukebox, sipping on his cocktail. 

“Will you both excuse me? I’ll give you some free time until Isabelle has to leave,” Magnus explained before taking his martini glass. He went over to the pool table and talked to the Warlock that he had never seen before in his life. It was someone from Paris who had tiny black horns. Magnus didn’t mind them, he just started playing pool with him to spend time with someone until it was time for Isabelle to head off. He had to talk to Maia about this, needed to make sure he had made the right decision the night before.

And deep down he still hoped for a message from Alec. Saying that he went undercover again, that he was safe. 

But all that he had gotten so far was a question about his favorite coffee order. 

A _coffee order._

Did he really expect anything else from a Warlock that was trying to enjoy his life, knowing he had to be locked up at night?

When Magnus had left the bar, Isabelle looked after him before facing Maia again. “Can I trust him?” she asked her slowly. “I know he’s one of your best friends, even though he’s only been here for a few months now, but.. can I trust him?” 

Maia looked at Magnus again. He was doing his first shot at the pool table, bragging to the Warlock with a french accent. She remembered how she met Magnus a few months ago. It was a stormy night when Magnus first entered the bar, asking for a martini. He didn’t seem like he was much into talking that night. He seemed tired and exhausted while sipping on his drink without saying a word to Maia for more than an hour. Eventually, she asked him if he wanted to talk about whatever had happened, and Magnus did talk. He told her about the heartbreak he had been through, coming back to New York from Tokyo was hard for him. Losing a partner was never easy, and especially not for Magnus. The poor Warlock that always falls too soon for a soul.

They kind of became friends over time. Magnus stopped by almost every second day after his work to tell Maia about his day, his clients; he asked her about her day, her hobbies. They started talking about everything. It made him forget about his problems and on top of that, he was a beautiful friend that Maia needed in the bar from time to time. Magnus knew how to solve fistfights without anyone getting hurt. She started trusting him. And there was no reason to not trust him. 

“Look, I know you’re a Shadowhunter after all is said and done, following your orders and duties. But Magnus is a good guy. I’m sure he did the right thing. He wouldn’t lie to me. Besides, he respects you. I know he does.” Maia smiled at her, cupped her face slowly before kissing her brightly, a smile lying on her lips. 

“I hope you’re right. I really want to like all of your friends, but they’re still Downworlders.”

“So am I, babe,” Maia whispered against her lips, touching her nose with her own nose tip. “Give him a chance. He said he had turned him in, right? You have nothing to worry about anymore.” They kissed again before a new customer entered the bar and Maia had to break away from Isabelle for now. 

Isabelle took the time to study Magnus in the meantime. How sassy he got with the Warlock, how he kept flirting with his eyes and charm. How both of them laughed at each other’s jokes. Magnus let him win, just to win him over after all. They had a good time together. 

And maybe Maia was right after all. She was in a relationship with a Downworlder. She loved Maia for who she was, for what she believed in, for her strong and passionate soul. She didn’t care about her being a werewolf. She was never afraid of getting hurt. When they first met, Isabelle was out on a mission, following Underhill who had prepared some chips to plant into the Downworlders. Isabelle hadn’t approved and neither had Aline. Underhill still went to every leader back then and tried to put them under their skin. Isabelle had followed him to the Hunter’s Moon. It was the first time she has seen Maia. And Maia was beautiful, stunning. She was incredibly brave, telling Underhill off, almost starting a fight, until Isabelle interrupted them and solved the problem with a lot of talking. They exchanged a few looks with one another before Isabelle took Underhill with her and they left the bar. 

But Isabelle returned on the same day to apologize yet again, couldn’t get the werewolf out of her head. She took her breath away just by standing in front of Underhill, protecting her people. Isabelle stayed for a few hours...started talking to Maia, flirting. Slowly but surely, she fell for her. For a werewolf. She was never afraid of Maia for being what she was born to be, and neither was Aline about Helen. Both Maia and Helen were Downworlders. Both of them had demon blood inside of them. And yet they had accepted them. And she knew that Magnus wasn’t just the High Warlock of Brooklyn for nothing. He was a good person, he protected his people.

Maybe she just had to accept Downworlders for their personality and _maybe_ she had to look past their bloodline. She had to give them a chance, _all_ of them. 

Isabelle smiled at Magnus before she took a sip of her coke. He seemed happy, like a real human. He was nothing different than her. He was trustworthy since he was also human. Just like Isabelle was. 

A human with feelings. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Isabelle left the bar around half an hour later, waving goodbye to Magnus after she had kissed Maia. Magnus studied both of them the whole time while he had played pool with the young Warlock from Paris. He excused himself nevertheless and walked over to the bar again. Now that Isabelle had left the bar, Magnus was able to tell Maia what really happened the night before. 

“Maia,” he starts the conversation, putting his martini glass on the table. Maia took the glass away from Magnus to serve him another martini of hers. Magnus studied here while she filled the glass, added a piece of lemon and a paper umbrella. She let the glass slide over the bar counter, back to Magnus. Magnus sighed deeply before he continued, playing with his fingers to hide how nervous he got all of a sudden. 

“I- I needed to talk about something with you. Before Isabelle came in here.” 

“Oh, right! What’s wrong?” She put her glass down and leaned over the counter, realizing that this was probably something important, something that Magnus wanted only her to know. 

“I need advice.” Magnus sipped on his martini. “I don’t know if I did the right thing, you know?” 

“With sending the Warlock to the Spiral Labyrinth?” Maia asked in a reply, connecting the dots from before. She saw how Magnus’ whole body tensed. She hit the right point, but she wasn’t really sure yet what there was to talk about. 

“You saved your people and many other innocent humans, Magnus.” 

Magnus closed his eyes. “I didn’t send him to the labyrinth, Maia.” Magnus faced her again, saw how Maia’s smile faded within seconds. 

“You- what!?” Maia’s jaw almost dropped, but she had to stay polite here. She leaned down to Magnus to not cause even more trouble. “What the hell Magnus?” she repeated more quietly this time. Magnus looked at her, eyes burning with anger. 

“You can’t tell Isabelle, you hear me?” Magnus cleared his throat, trying hard to not sound mad or bossy. “I need your advice on this because I don’t know if I did the right thing.” 

“Obviously you did the wrong thing, Magnus! You were supposed to take him there.” Maia’s voice was quiet, almost like a whisper, but she seemed madder than she wanted to be. “They’ve been hunting for him for almost four years now. Did you see Isabelle? She was happy, I thought you wouldn’t lie to me.” 

“And I didn’t. I’m telling you the truth right now. I wanted to tell you right before Isabelle stormed through the door. I can’t just tell her the truth, I barely know her.” Magnus took a deep breath while he played with his martini glass. He was nervous to speak about it to Maia. But he had to tell _someone._ Someone had to tell him that he did the right thing. 

“She is my girlfriend, Magnus. How am I supposed to keep this a secret from her?” Maia looked for an answer in Magnus’ eyes, but she couldn’t find one. Magnus didn’t know how she was supposed to keep this information from Isabelle either. He just hoped that she would. 

“I did it because I think he’s not a bad person. He’s strong, Maia. Stronger than the Warlocks I usually meet. I don’t know what had happened to him, but I know that it’s right to at least try to help him.” Magnus raised his gaze again, facing Maia with an uncertain look. “I told him that if things go wrong and if he isn’t following the rules, I will send him to the labyrinth. He’s broken, has given up on himself.” Magnus paused for a moment, remembering what happened the night before. What Alec said to him to convince Magnus to send him to the labyrinth right away. 

“He doesn’t want to admit that he needs help, but deep down his body is screaming for help. And I wanna try to help him at least.” Magnus was the first one to break the gaze again. 

“If the Clave finds out about this Magnus… you’re _doomed_.” 

“I know,” Magnus replied dryly, taking another sip from the alcohol. He felt the burning sensation deep in his throat. He needed the pain for now. “He’s one of us, Maia. He’s a Downworlder. Not a monster or a demon. He can be saved.” 

Maia sighed exhaustedly before she leaned against the counter of the bar. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked at Magnus. “And you want to have my _support_?” 

“I want you to tell me your opinion,” Magnus corrected her quietly. He really was in the need of an opinion. Maia could see that he did struggle with himself and the decision. Especially after the meeting with Aline. His whole body seemed to be under pressure. He clenched his jaw, rolled his shoulders from time to time, and cleared his throat. 

“Well,” Maia began slowly, putting down the towel she had been holding the whole time while cleaning the glasses. “I wasn’t really a fan of sending him to prison right away. I’ll give you that. I liked the idea of you asking him questions. Why he did it, what caused his behavior-”

“Alec,” Magnus interrupted her before raising his gaze again, meeting her eyes. “His name is Alec.” A smile crept onto Magnus’ lips when saying his name. Maia returned the smile brightly. 

“Does he trust you?” Was the only question Maia asked him afterward. Magnus didn’t say anything for quite a while, so Maia continued. “Do _you_ trust him?” 

Magnus opened his mouth for a short amount of time before closing it again. He closed his eyes, not knowing what to say or how to answer the question. He looked at Maia again. She was smiling at him silently. 

“I-” Magnus began, staring at his martini again. “I trust him enough to know that he won’t hurt me on purpose. He needs help, Maia.” Magnus faced her again and his eyes spoke for him, begging Maia to believe him. He didn’t know what to do, but his heart told him that it was the right thing. 

Maia inhaled deeply, supporting her arms on the counter in front of her. 

“Look, I don’t know him. I know that he caused a lot of trouble and harmed a lot of my people, also your people. But I trust you, so if you think you can help him, go for it. I won’t tell Isabelle about this because I’m your friend, but I swear to God Magnus, don’t run into something dangerous. If it’s not working, just send him to the Spiral Labyrinth, okay? I don’t want you to get in danger just because you have such a huge heart.” Maia smiled at Magnus and patted his shoulder softly, causing him to eventually unclench his jaw. 

Magnus nodded. “Thank you,” he said quietly. His phone rang at the same time, reminding him of the current time. It was almost midnight, which meant he had to leave the bar now. 

“I gotta go, Maia. Thank you for…” Magnus looked at her and smiled. “For everything.” 

Maia returned the smile immediately. “Just put this on the list of things that I did for you. Be safe, Magnus. I really don’t want to lose you.” 

Magnus nodded silently to her before he reached for another bill. He handed over the 50 dollar bill to Maia and headed towards the exit to leave the bar without another word. 

“Keep me updated!” Maia called out to him and Magnus turned around one last time, nodding in response. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Alec gritted his teeth before snapping his finger to hurt the demon standing in front of him, locked in a pentagram. He didn’t have much time left until he would meet up with Magnus.

“Come on,” Alec growled against the lines of the pentagram. He was annoyed at the demon not telling him anything useful so far. “I know you can scan my bloodline,” he said once again, gritting his teeth and facing the glowing red eyes of the demon.

“What do you want me to tell ya?” The demon smirked, crossing his arms in front of him. “Without any payment, there’s nothing that I can do for you, Alec.” 

“You wouldn’t help me anyway,” Alec growled again, stepping close to the pentagram. “Look into my bloodline, demon. My father’s name, _now._ ” Alec’s wings snapped forward, showing off his power and the dominance lying in Alec’s voice. The demon, nevertheless, tilted his head slightly before he burst into laughter. 

“Good try. I won’t help you, even if I could. At the end of the day, you’re working with Magnus Bane. I don’t want to risk anything here.” The demon stepped back in the pentagram, burning his tail slightly because it crossed the line. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alec asked in return, crossing his arms in front of his chest yet again. His wings snapped back, cooled down a bit now. 

The demon chuckled. “You really don’t know, do you? You’re working with _Magnus Bane._ His biggest weakness is his heart or why do you think he is helping you in the first place?” 

“How do you even know about that?” Alec raised his voice again, obviously very confused. 

“Demons listen, Alec. We’re everywhere without being on earth. Don’t let your heart become your biggest weakness as well. You’ll see soon enough what it means to work together with someone like Magnus Bane.” A devilish smirk crept onto the lips of the demon. He wasn’t afraid of Alec, nor was he really impressed by what he had asked for. Alec was known for searching for his father, and the demons had an idea, a clue to who his father could’ve been. But they never told him, never wanted to risk their own lives in order to help a Warlock. 

Alec opened his mouth to say something in response, to defend himself and the actions he took, but couldn’t think of an answer.

“You know,” the demon began again. “The son of a prince of hell wouldn’t just help you for no reason,” he said while chuckling. 

Alec tried to process the things that had just left the mouth of the demon. “What the hell are you talking about?” 

The demon continued to chuckle darkly. “You really are that young, huh? All that power that lives inside of you and yet you’re so naive, little Warlock.” 

Alec narrowed his eyebrows before he snapped his fingers, burning the demon right in front of him. He definitely wasn’t any help to him, but he did change something inside of Alec. Alec hasn’t really thought about why Magnus insisted on helping him, neither did Magnus tell him the reason why. Was it really just because he had such a huge heart? 

Alec didn’t want to harm him, nor did he want to get in danger himself. 

But Alec had no time to think about the situation any longer. He felt his wings starting to itch...his bones starting to hurt. He looked at the phone that Magnus had given to him. It was almost midnight. Alec sighed deeply before putting the phone in his pocket and stepping outside onto the balcony. He spread his wings in pain, closing his eyes to avoid thinking about it. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes again, flapping his wings as hard as he could to glide into the air. Magnus had sent him the location of his loft on the phone. 

He tried to enjoy the fly through the night sky of New York. It gave him enough time to think about the demon's words. Normally he would’ve used a portal to get to Magnus’ place, knowing that his wards allowed Alec from now on, but he wanted to use the time to think while flying. The words echoed in his head, _the son of a prince of hell wouldn’t just help you for no reason._ Alec bit his lower lip. He had no idea what it meant, no idea what the demon wanted to hint. But it caused Alec to overthink the whole situation yet again. Maybe it was for the better if Magnus would’ve just put him in prison. Maybe all of this was just a trap for Alec to get into the hands of the Clave.

Alec stopped in the air, trying to catch his breath. His mind was running wild, throwing dark thoughts at him. He was about to just throw the deal over as he saw a group of Shadowhunters on one of the roofs. Alec immediately flew down, in between the different skyscrapers. It was one thing to get near them but another to not let them see him. He didn’t want to risk another encounter with a group of Shadowhunters for the time being. 

But Alec couldn’t deny that he was interested in what they were saying.

“God, you can’t even imagine how relieved I am that they got the freak. He really was a pain in the ass. I’m glad he’s locked up now.” was the first thing that Alec heard. They were definitely other Shadowhunters, not the ones that trapped Alec a day ago. And yet Alec couldn’t believe that every single Shadowhunter in New York knew about the situation already. The gossip really was something that Alec never understood in the first place. 

“I really hope he won’t see the end of the light anymore though,” someone laughed out loud. “He better get what he deserves for the shit he pulled.” 

Alec felt the anger growing bigger inside of him. He hated the way they spoke about him. It was clear that Magnus had lied to them, given that none of them knew about the fact that actually, Alec wasn’t locked up. At least not totally. He was bound to Magnus’ orders, but he was still free over the course of the daytime. Alec dropped near them on one of the roofs. He observed them, not realizing that it got closer to midnight. Although he felt the pain becoming more noticeable. He would’ve loved to kill them off, secretly. Without anyone noticing. But he knew it was wrong, demonic. 

Alec closed his eyes and turned away. He could’ve stayed, could’ve waited until his darkness would take over him. But he couldn’t. He spread his wings again before gliding past the buildings, heading towards Magnus’ loft. 

Alec didn’t feel like it would help him at all, but he had to try at least for one night. He had promised him. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Magnus finished the last line of the pentagram, leaving a tiny entrance for Alec, right before he heard the sound of someone landing on his balcony. He took a deep breath and stepped outside the room to look towards the balcony. Alec had just landed, brushing his shoulders to adjust his jacket before he looked at Magnus. 

“Good evening,” he said with a smirk. Magnus rolled his eyes in response. 

“You should’ve answered my message,” he said while approaching Alec slowly with grace.

“I was kinda busy.” Alec stepped into the loft and looked around, pulling his aching wings close to his body. “But I’m here now,” he said quietly, smiling cunningly at Magnus. He closed his eyes again, feeling the pain grow bigger. 

“And we gotta be fast from what I can tell.” Magnus tilted his head and studied how Alec’s whole body tensed. 

“Yes.” was all that Alec was able to say in response. He followed Magnus into the room in which he already sat in. “By the way,” Alec interrupted Magnus while walking, snapping his fingers. Magnus turned around to face him, eyebrows raised. 

Alec held a coffee-to-go cup in his hand, handing it over to Magnus. “I brought you your latte.” 

Magnus stared at the cup for quite a while before he was able to speak again. “Alexander-” he began, unable to find the right words. “Why did you bring me a latte?” 

“Well, you said it’s your favorite drink to go.” 

“I didn’t expect you to buy me one. Besides, it’s already cold.” Magnus was touched by the fact that Alec actually bought him coffee, but he had bought it hours ago. 

“Oh! Right, hold on,” Alec said with a smile before snapping his fingers again. Red magic sparkled around his nails, letting the coffee heat up again. Magnus felt how the cup got warmer in his hand, steaming against his nose when he took a deep smell. It really smelled delicious. 

Magnus faced him again. “Thank you. I didn’t expect that.” A shy smile crept onto Alec’s lips as the words left Magnus’ mouth. Magnus took a sip before he put the cup onto his desk. 

“Time is running out, am I right?” Magnus turned around to Alec once more, seeing that he struggled to keep a calm face. Alec nodded hesitatingly. 

“Follow me.” Magnus started walking to the room again, Alec following him close. Magnus showed him the pentagram and Alec walked in only seconds later, passing by Magnus extremely closely. His wings brushed against Magnus’ shoulder. Alec felt the feeling again; the calming feeling that let his whole body relax, just for a second. 

Alec turned around to face him again, smirking. 

“Sit down,” Magnus said quietly before he snapped his fingers and a pair of metal handcuffs appeared in his hand. Alec’s eyes widened slightly. 

He chuckled amusedly. “Maybe you should’ve bought me dinner first. But if that’s your kink, whatever floats your boat,” he said to him before he sat down, leaning against the bed frame. 

Magnus stepped into the pentagram as well, taking Alec’s hand and chaining it against the leg of the bed. They were extremely close to each other, feeling each other’s breaths on their skins. 

“Those are for your own safety. From what I saw yesterday… the dark _you_ is capable of a lot of things.” Magnus explained while rolling his eyes. The chain clicked into the lock and Magnus checked it once again, making sure that Alec wouldn't escape. 

“I mean, I’d say the same thing to overcome my own kink.” Alec chuckled raspily. 

“Will you shut up?” Magnus laughed quietly, meeting Alec’s eyes. They burned with desire. Something was lingering inside of them. Something that Magnus couldn’t name. But he was eager to find out, and wanted to end the tension between them as soon as possible.

“Make me,” Alec whispered back, a devilish smirk on his lips. Magnus blinked a few times, focusing on Alec’s lips and subconsciously licking over his own. He shook his head before getting up and finishing the last line of the pentagram. The spell worked a few seconds later, making the pentagram glow a dark red. Magnus sat down on the opposite side of the room, looking at Alec. He decided not to comment on his last words. 

“What did you do today?” he asked instead, playing with his rings. He kept track of time, always checking his phone. 

Alec took a deep breath and leaned back. “I summoned a few demons, asked them to read my bloodline. They didn’t really help me though. I went to that cafe that I told you about and enjoyed my Americano and a piece of cake.” Alec’s voice seemed calm, way too calm considering that he was about to turn dark soon. 

“You- you summoned demons?” Magnus’ attention was focused on that one activity. “You know damn well that those demons can end up telling the Shadowhunters about your freedom.” 

Alec shrugged, his wings slowly following the movements of his shoulders. “It’s not like they’ll do anything about it, right?” He raised one of his eyebrows, looking conflicted at Magnus. He was pretty sure that the Clave won’t pull any move on him. “They’re demons, Magnus. They’re lying all the time.” 

“Not when they can save their own ass. We just saw yesterday what happened to you and Nocturne. A demon that _you_ trusted.” Magnus closed his eyes in pain, remembering what he saw when they found Alec. “Besides, it’s not only your life being at risk, I’m involved in this whole thing as well.” He opened his eyes again, looking at Alec. 

Alec shrugged and brushed it off. “It’s not like the Clave can do you any harm. You’re the High Warlock of Brooklyn. So even _if_ they found out about this whole thing, you wouldn't be in greater danger.” 

Magnus clenched his jaw in tension. He knew it would be hard for Alec to follow rules, but Magnus had no idea _how_ difficult it would be to make him understand how serious this whole thing was. 

“It doesn't give you the right to play around like before, Alexander. We’re a team now. We have to function as one. And if that means that you’re gonna hide the whole day to make sure neither of us will get into trouble, then so be it.” Magnus finished his speech with a deep sigh. He let his hand run through his hair. “I know it’s gonna be hard, but if we want this to work - you have to cooperate.” 

Alec avoided his gaze before he opened his mouth again. “You know, you’re pretty much annoying with all your caring and actions to make sure this won’t end badly.” 

Magnus chuckled. “If you keep on doing this shit, summoning demons, walking around New York as nothing has happened, you’ll end up in the Clave’s prison before you know it. And if I annoy you _now,_ just think about how annoyed you’ll be having me as a cellmate. Because if we do this, we're gonna do it together, Alexander.” 

Alec narrowed his eyes before he eventually nodded with a deep sigh, looking at the handcuff around his wrist. “I guess I have no other choice, hm?” he asked with a smirk, facing Magnus again. It was a trick question, so he didn’t expect a real answer from Magnus. He opened his mouth again. “I- I just wanna let you know that I have no idea what will happen once I turn dark. If I hurt you in any way, or if I say things to you-” 

“You won’t hurt me, Alexander,” Magnus interrupted him without hesitation. He didn’t want Alec to feel bad for something that he couldn’t control. At least not yet. 

“You say that now, but neither of us knows what the dark me is capable of saying,” Alec argued back. “I just-” he paused to take a deep breath. “If I say anything hurtful, I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be sorry. This is not on you,” Magnus replied, checking his phone again. It was about to hit midnight. He looked back at Alec, who had closed his eyes already. He was in pain, Magnus could tell. Alec started jiggling his leg, trying to distract himself. He opened his eyes again, taking one last look at Magnus. Magnus took a deep breath and stood up, ready to face the dark side of Alec. His wings became much darker with every second, his breath more unsteady. 

It only took a few more seconds before Alec closed his eyes in pain, growling, and clenching his jaw. Magnus tried to prepare himself for everything that was about to come, but he had never encountered a Warlock that apparently was possessed by dark magic. 

Alec opened his eyes again, a devilish smile surrounding his lips. He faced Magnus and it felt like he froze him with his gaze. Magnus felt how his whole body tensed, how his spine felt like it was about to break. The hazelnut brown of Alec’s eyes had vanished. Magnus wasn’t able to see any color anymore. It was a reflection of what most people feared the most: darkness, death, and emptiness. The pupils fixated themselves onto Magnus and Magnus felt his stomach turn upside down. He couldn’t find a single glimpse of Alec anymore. 

“And so we meet, Magnus Bane,” Alec’s voice sounded in Magnus’ ears, but it was off. It was darker and deeper than Alec’s usual voice. Magnus cleared his throat and rolled his shoulders. He couldn’t show any signs of weakness, not to _something_ that knew exactly how to use someone’s weakness. 

Alec looked around himself, pulling at the handcuff while chuckling. “Clever,” he growled before facing Magnus again. 

“I know,” Magnus replied before snapping his fingers to get his notebook. He needed to write down as much information as he could get. “Shall we start? You aren't going anywhere anytime soon.” Magnus smirked at him. It felt unreal to speak to someone or something that looked like Alec but definitely wasn’t him. 

“What are you?” Magnus started off easy. Not that he expected any good answers, but sometimes the easiest way helped. 

“Now why would I tell you that?” 

“Because you can’t just sit here and ignore me for about five hours,” Magnus answered the question. 

“Have you met me?” 

“Just did.”

Alec narrowed his brows, letting his eyes go even darker. He gritted his teeth. “I’m a demon as if you didn’t figure this out already.” Alec looked around the room. “Living inside of this beautiful being, what do you call him again? _A l e x a n d e r?_ ” he chuckled before continuing. “And I’m living my best life when midnight hits. Sadly, I wasn’t able to do that yesterday. Poor Alec was too weak huh?” 

Magnus felt how his hand cramped around the pen that he was holding to write down the things that Alec said to him. So the demon was able to hear and see everything that Alec was doing during the daytime. It was a fucking joke to the demon, but it was the cruel reality for Alec. Getting chased just because some demon had his fun. 

“Who brought you into Alec’s body?” 

“Well, that’s the real question here, hm?” 

Magnus raised an eyebrow at the reply, stepping closer to the pentagram. “If you won’t tell me I’ll make you answer.” Magnus raised his hand and blue magic appeared around his fingers. Yet Alec didn’t seem impressed by it. 

“If you hurt me, you’re only going to hurt your precious Alexander. No one wants that, hm?” 

Magnus knew he wasn’t lying. The demon could easily kill Alec and escape to another body. So interrogating him wasn’t a choice. He didn’t want to harm Alec. 

“Isn’t it pathetic?” Alec asked, catching Magnus’ attention again. “Poor Alec… he keeps summoning random demons, asking them to help him find out about stuff that they have no idea of, but what he doesn’t know is… the demon who has all the answers is the one that lives inside of him.” 

Magnus clenched his jaw in response, clearing his throat briefly. “You know I can just tell him-”

“But you won’t.” Alec’s eyes lay on Magnus’ face, studying how he gritted his teeth. “Because if you do so, what is he gonna do? Ask you to torture me? To get the information he wants? You know I won’t say a word about who cursed him.” 

Magnus narrowed his brows, pinching his eyes slightly. He was mad that he couldn’t do a single thing about the demon living inside of Alec. At least not for now. He had to find out his weakness first. 

“This is going to be _our_ little secret, hm?” The demon laughed quietly again, trying to pull off the handcuff again. He looked at Magnus, waiting for a response. 

“Why are you doing this to him in the first place? What did he do?” 

“As if I would know. I have no idea why I’m in this body, but I’m having fun for sure. Let me tell you that the person who cursed him is much worse than your father… How is Asmodeus anyway?” A dark smirk crept onto Alec’s lips. Magnus had to avoid the gaze, he couldn’t stand to look at him anymore. 

“Don’t you dare put his name in your mouth,” Magnus growled, jaw clenched. He rolled his shoulders. At least this was one piece of useful information so far. Magnus’ guess that Alec’s father was also a greater demon didn’t seem so unrealistic now. 

“Or what? Are you gonna attack me? You’re gonna hurt your precious Alexander, Magnus. Not me,” Alec stopped to laugh darkly at him. “I had no idea that you’re so naive, Magnus.” 

Magnus raised his gaze again, looking into the pitch-black eyes of Alec. “What are you talking about?” he asked angrily. He had to control his temper because damn did the demon enjoy their conversation right now. 

“I’m talking about you being so old, and yet so dumb. Your mother, remember her? She killed herself because she couldn’t bear to raise a demon child, and your father? Asmodeus royally screwed you over last time you saw him and yet you’re still _so_ naive. Letting your heart speak, showing off your great weakness. You care too much, you know? It’ll be your downfall.” 

“Shut up-” Magnus interrupted him. He felt how his hands started to tremble and he had no clue why. He never showed off how weak he got once someone mentioned his mother or talked about how his father used him. He didn’t have to ask how the demon found out about it. Magnus knew better. Demons listen to every bit of gossip and story that they get told. 

Magnus looked to Alec again. “What does he need to do to get rid of you?”

“Oh, Magnus…” Alec laughed again. “You really don’t get it, do you?” Magnus stepped closer to the pentagram, kneeling down in front of Alec to look him deep into his eyes. 

“He can’t get rid of me. He better accepts his destiny. And you should brush it off. You can’t help him.” 

“Watch me,” Magnus replied without hesitation. “My heart might be my biggest weakness, and I might care too much, but I won’t give him up or hand him over to some damn prison he doesn’t belong in.” 

Alec tilted his head, narrowing his brows again. “You’re gonna be his downfall.” A smirk appeared on his lips again. “Just like you were for your _mother._ ” Alec laughed darkly, seeing how much he hurt Magnus with simple words. 

Magnus closed his eyes in response, getting up on his feet again. He turned around to leave the room. He couldn’t stay there any second longer. Alec couldn’t escape, because Magnus checked the wards again, looking at Alec one more time. He still had the devilish smile on his lips. 

“I give you two days until you give him up. You won't save what's already broken, Magnus. Or did mommy dearest not teach you that?” Magnus studied Alec’s black eyes once again, seeing how much anger and hate lingered inside of them. Maybe the demon was right, maybe Magnus couldn’t save what’s already broken. 

But Magnus knew that it was worth a try at least. 

He closed the door to the room and took a deep breath, sliding down the door slowly but surely. He tried to catch his own breath, repeating the words in his mind again and again. Alec’s demon definitely knew how to hurt Magnus, which led him to the conclusion that he also knows how to hurt Alec the most. And that was exactly what Magnus was afraid of. That Alec would’ve been the one getting hurt the most going into this. 

Magnus rested his head against the wood of the door. He didn’t expect that the demon’s mention of his mother would’ve hurt him so much, but it did. He remembered how he had found his mother in her bed. He was just a child, around nine years old. He didn’t know what to do when he found her, didn’t know how to react. He had screamed her name in pain, begging her to wake up. But Magnus already knew that his mother wouldn't open her eyes any longer. He had destroyed her, had broken her completely. He remembered how his stepdad had discovered him and his mother in the bedroom. He had put the blame on Magnus, had told him that he was the reason for the suicide of his mother. He had called him an abomination. Magnus felt the pain of the memory crawling up his spine. He tried to avoid thinking about his past, about his mother. But now that Alec’s demon pulled out this specific memory of his mother… Magnus couldn’t catch his breath. He felt how everything around him became blurry. His hands were trembling. Alec’s words were like a sharp dagger going right through his heart. 

And Magnus kept telling himself that it wasn’t Alec saying these things, but how could he convince his own body and mind that Alec didn’t think less of him when the words came out of Alec’s mouth in the first place?

  
  


* * *

  
  


His head was pounding, his back hurt, his wings ached, and his stomach growled in need of hunger. Alec opened his eyes slowly, looking around to realize that he was still sitting in one of Magnus’ guest rooms. He looked down at his hand to see that the handcuff was gone. Beside his foot was a plate with freshly made french toast and a cup of Americano. A small smile crept onto Alec’s lips before he took the coffee mug in his hand to let the warm liquid run down his dry throat. He tried to remember what had happened, what he had said to Magnus. But he had no clue. 

Alec stood up slowly, stretching his back, rolling his shoulders back to suppress the urge of spreading his wings. He didn’t want to destroy anything in the room. Alec turned around to face the door of the room. He felt Magnus’ presence, meaning he was still in the loft. But Alec didn’t feel like moving out of the room yet. 

Instead, he took the plate and sat down on the soft bedsheet, sinking into the golden silk blanket. He took a bite from the french toast, salivating as the sweet toast touched his tongue. He felt alive again. Alec took another bite before he put the plate down and let himself fall onto the bed sheets. He closed his eyes in pleasure and chewed on the toast a few times before he opened his eyes again, staring at the ceiling. Everything around him smelled like sandalwood and oak. Everything smelled like _Magnus_. 

“Good morning.” Magnus’ voice sounded all of a sudden, causing Alec to snap back into reality. He shot up, staring at Magnus. Magnus stood in the doorway, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest. 

Alec looked out of the window before facing Magnus again, scratching the back of his head. “What time is it?” 

“Almost six in the morning. You fell unconscious around an hour ago,” Magnus replied without any expression. Alec just nodded in response before he slowly got up from the bed. 

“Did you get any answers?” Alec took another sip from his Americano before he put the cup down onto the counter next to the bed. He faced Magnus again, waiting for an answer. 

Magnus took a deep breath and snapped his fingers. Seconds later, the wards around the room went down. Alec didn’t take his gaze off of Magnus. He needed answers. Positive ones. 

“You-” Magnus began quietly. “You should go.” Magnus raised his hand to point to the balcony. “Your wings must be exhausted from resting against the bed frame for the whole night. Take a flight, hide somewhere… I- I really don’t know what to tell you, Alexander.” 

Alec narrowed his eyes, tilting his head in confusion. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “What is going on, Magnus? What aren’t you telling me?” He didn’t know Magnus for long, and yet Alec was able to tell that he was acting differently, cold. 

“Nothing,” Magnus said before he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He walked past Alec to sit down on the bed. He didn’t face him, just folded his hands in front of him as he sighed deeply. Alec studied him for a while before stepping closer to the bed to sit down beside him. 

Alec studied him silently, waiting for Magnus to actually talk about whatever had happened. 

“Whatever…whatever I said to you last night…I’m sorry,” Alec apologized quietly, pinching his fingers to distract himself from the unknowing feeling of not knowing what happened. He felt extremely guilty because he sensed Magnus’ tension,and the fact that Magnus hasn't said a word made the whole thing even worse. 

Alec bit his lower lip and turned to Magnus. “Magnus, I- please talk to me. What happened?” 

Magnus closed his eyes in pain, taking a deep, shaking breath. “I- I can’t. It’s,” Magnus finally turned his head to Alec, looking into the warm hazelnut brown eyes, leading him through the endless long forest of mysteries and adventures. Magnus’ body relaxed the second he felt Alec’s gaze on him. As well as Alec’s body calmed down because his feathers kept brushing over the hand that Magnus had rested beside his leg beforehand. 

Magnus wanted to talk to him, wanted to tell him the truth. He wanted to let him know that the demon inside of him knew who cursed him, knew who his father was. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t because he already knew that Alec was selfless enough to torture himself if it would mean finding out the answers. 

But Magnus couldn’t risk it, he couldn’t risk hurting Alec. 

He felt Alec put his hand on his own. Magnus faced him, staring into his eyes. 

Magnus closed his eyes again. “This is not on you. I just…”

“What happened, Magnus? Just give it to me straight.” 

“It’s complicated...Maybe… maybe you were right.” Magnus pulled his hand back and stood up, walking around the room to distract himself from the memory of the night. “Maybe I can’t help you. Maybe it would be better if you just…leave New York. I won’t turn you in because it’s not your fault.” Magnus took a deep breath. “You should go, Alexander.” 

“Magnus- What…I told you that I’m sorry if I hurt you in any way,” Alec replied, confused, getting up from the bed. Magnus turned away from him, not being able to face him. “What did I say, Magnus? What did I do to you?” 

“Nothing. I’m fine, I really am. I just don’t think that I can help you, Alexander.” It hurt Magnus to reject Alec now, but he couldn’t risk hurting him only if it meant finding out answers for his curse. Magnus turned around to face Alec, looking into the sad eyes that spoke volumes of disappointment. 

He had given Alec hope, and after facing his dark side he completely shattered his dreams. 

Magnus smiled at him before he nodded. “I- I need to leave. If you want to stay here a bit longer to recover, that’s fine by me.” His smile faded as Alec’s look became even harder. 

“No.” Alec crossed his arms in front of his chest, tilting his head. “We’re not done here, Magnus. What’s wrong with you? What aren’t you telling me?” 

“Don’t you get it?” Magnus asked in return, his voice now filled with rage. “I _can’t_ help you-”

“Why not?!” Alec shouted, interrupting Magnus. His wings spread forward, turning crimson red. 

“Because I don’t wanna _fucking_ hurt you!” Magnus’ eyes were filled with anger and frustration. He felt disappointed in himself for lashing out, but he couldn’t help himself.

“I- I can’t hurt you, Alexander. I can’t, because I care about you!” He yelled at him, causing Alec to step back a bit, swallowing hard. He avoided Magnus’ gaze, looking at his own feet. 

And the guilt overcame Magnus again. 

“I’m sorry, Alexander,” Magnus said eventually before he turned around to leave the room. He reached the door within seconds and opened it before he felt the force of someone’s hands pressing it shut. It was Alec’s hand. He stood right behind Magnus, pressing his hand against the door, breathing down Magnus’ neck. 

“Don’t-” he begged him quietly. “Don’t go, please Magnus. You gave me hope.” Alec took a deep breath. Magnus closed his eyes in pain, leaning his forehead against the door. “You said I deserve a second chance, right?” Alec’s voice wasn’t more than a whisper, a desperate plea to hold Magnus back. 

“Alexander…” Magnus whispered against the door with a desperate, pain-laced voice. He wanted to leave the room, wanted to get away from him. But at the same time, he knew he didn’t want to leave his side anymore. 

Alec kept breathing down his neck, standing only a few inches away from Magnus’ back. His wings spread around both of them, briefly brushing over Magnus’ hand that rested on the door. 

“I beg you...don’t go,” Alec whispered again, closing his eyes in pain and inhaling the familiar scent of sandalwood. He felt safe around Magnus, so incredibly safe. 

Magnus closed his eyes in pain as well. It hurt him to hear Alec being so desperate and in need of help. “Alexander…what happened here is bigger than us…much bigger.” Magnus whispered his words against the door. He wasn’t able to face Alec just yet. “And I don’t know if I’m strong enough to face it alone.” 

“You’re not alone,” Alec replied in a whisper, letting his hand slide down to put it on Magnus’ hand, making him flinch away from the touch. Alec inhaled deeply. “I’m _begging_ you, Magnus.” He took his hand from the door before he blinked a few times, stepping back and looking down at his feet, waiting for Magnus to turn around. He didn’t know if Magnus would actually turn around to him. It was his call to make. But he did a few seconds later, looking at Alec without a word. His wings were coral red, lifting and sinking with each breath he took. Alec was right, he was not alone. They were together in this. 

“I-” Magnus took a deep breath, causing Alec to look up at him. “You said you don’t want to hurt me.” Magnus studied how Alec’s face changed when Magnus started talking again, almost like he relaxed the second he heard how soft Magnus’ voice was. 

“But neither of us could’ve known that hurting you would hurt me way more than you could ever imagine.” 

“Magnus stop, stop talking in mysteries. I have no idea what I’ve said to you yesterday night. But whatever it is, you have to be honest to me.” 

“It’s not your dark magic, Alexander. It’s a demon. A demon lives inside of you, coming out around midnight. He has his own personality. He-” Magnus stopped, taking a deep breath to calm down. “He knows everything that I’ve told you.” 

Alec realized what had happened to Magnus. “Magnus…” Alec stepped closer to him. “I’m…I’m so sorry.” 

“Don’t. Don’t put this on yourself as well. I-” 

“I trust you,” Alec interrupted him. “I trust you enough to know that you want to help me. And I trust myself enough to know that I won’t hurt you.” Alec looked at him until their eyes met. “You were the only one giving me hope, hope that I can be normal again if… if we both work on this.” A smile crept onto Alec’s lips. 

“I trust you too.” Magnus let his finger slide through Alec’s feathers. His body immediately shivered as Alec relaxed due to Magnus's touch. Alec closed his eyes, leaning into the touch. He loved it, he desired Magnus’ touch more than anything. Alec leaned forward, resting his hand against the door to support himself. 

“You love a challenge, right?” he asked Magnus in a husky voice, causing Magnus to smirk a few moments later. Magnus nodded eventually. 

“I do love a challenge, yes,” he replied quietly. His voice was filled with the same hope that Alec felt from the night before. He let his finger run through each individual feather, making Alec gasp in satisfaction. A smile appeared on Magnus’ lips. He didn’t know that his touch caused Alec so much pleasure. 

Alec’s wings turned lighter the more Magnus’ fingers ran through them. Alec smiled at him as he opened his eyes again. They just stared at each other for quite a while, enjoying how close they were to each other. Alec felt relaxed, his wings didn’t hurt. He felt like the world around him froze for as long as he looked at Magnus. He didn’t know if it was worth risking it, but he felt the tension between them. He felt Magnus’ finger gliding through his feathers. He felt how unsteady and heavy his breath became just by looking at Magnus. Alec leaned in slowly, closing his eyes again. And so did Magnus.

Until Magnus’ phone rang, causing both of them to snap back into reality. 

“I- I need to go. If you need anything, help yourself out,” Magnus opened the door again, looking back one more time. “Okay?” 

Alec scoffed briefly and sent him a warm smile. “Okay,” he replied quietly before Magnus left the room. 

Alec just stood there for a moment, replaying what had happened a few minutes ago. His smile grew bigger. Magnus _trusted_ him. He just got one step closer to having a normal life again. A life with someone trusting him. A life while feeling alive, _being_ alive. 


	4. Give Me A Reason To Stay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome everyone! I hope you're getting good through the winter times! 
> 
> Let's continue this journey of #NCTYfic! As always, I'd love to read reactions on Twitter! So if you wanna share your thoughts, let me know! 
> 
> Tw for this chapter: It's getting spicy! NSFW hate-sex-ish, different to LMBWA this definitely has a lot more smutty words - if you feel uncomfortable reading it, be aware that it will take place in this chapter. 
> 
> I'd love to read feedback as well! Also if you have a question, let me know in my curiouscat or just write a comment! 
> 
> Thanks again for everyone who's supporting me and the story! I love all of you, mwah. 
> 
> Now, enjoy reading, Kim xX 
> 
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> 

“It’s been a while since you cooked something that didn’t end in a disaster.” Aline grabbed a piece of the garlic bread before she looked over to Helen. She served the pesto onto the spaghetti before handing the plate back to her girlfriend. 

“Should I be offended by that?” A soft smile rested on Helen’s lips. She had prepared dinner while Aline finished some official work. Helen loved to spoil her girlfriend with everything she could offer, although cooking dinner hadn’t been something that she was particularly good at. Most of the time they went out, going to a fancy restaurant to spend the evening together with a glass of good wine and tasty food, but Helen wanted to try something different this time, she wanted to take the stress off of Aline after work. 

“Nah, everything is fine, babe,” Aline replied with a cheeky smile, leaning over the table for a soft kiss. Helen’s lips tasted like her peach lip balm. Aline sat back in her chair and started to eat while closing her eyes to sense all the tastes that were dancing on her tongue. 

“Hmmm,” she hummed in sensation before opening her eyes again, facing Helen. “It’s a delicious meal babe.” 

“So Google _did_ help me today, I’m glad.” Helen giggled softly. “Did you finish the casework today?” Helen also took a bite from the pasta before she put down her fork to sip from the wine. 

“Oh yeah, I did! I had to adjust the last bit of information that I had received from Magnus Bane, but the case of the Warlock is finally gone for good. I just hope Maryse can move on from this whole thing as well. She was the only one looking…sad when I announced that Magnus had taken care of him.” Aline looked up from her glass to face Helen. 

Helen shrugged briefly. “Maybe she just felt connected to the case or was sad that Magnus took care of him. Maybe she wanted to find him herself.” 

Aline swallowed down her bite before remembering how Maryse looked through the case file over and over again. Every time Aline had asked her about it, Maryse just brushed the whole thing off, saying she was just curious,but Aline always felt like there was more to it. Like Maryse had a different connection to the case. She never wanted to be on the night patrol crew that were sent to look out for Alec, but she seemed scared when Aline announced that the Clave told her that the Warlock was wanted dead or alive. Aline never figured out why, nor did Isabelle know why her mother reacted that way. 

“Maybe,” she answered simply, eventually, before taking a deep breath. “I talked to Maryse today, asked how she feels, knowing that Magnus took care of him. If she’s fine with that since she had an unusual reaction.” 

“And? What did she say?” Helen was curious about the whole situation. She had realized that Maryse seemed off whenever she was looking through the file. 

“She…seemed okay with it. Obviously she asked me about Magnus, asked me if he’s trustworthy and if it meant that the Warlock would…stay alive.” 

“She was worried about his life?” 

“Seems like it.” Aline took a deep breath and put her glass down. “I have no idea, Helen. Not even Isabelle has any clue what Maryse is going through. But whatever it is…I hope she can get past it now that Magnus took care of him.” Aline faced Helen, eyes filled with worry. “Can we trust Magnus?” She had no idea why she asked her girlfriend about Magnus. Aline had already talked to Magnus, but she still had doubts. And she shouldn’t have them in the first place. After all, Magnus was the new High Warlock of Brooklyn. The Warlocks wouldn’t elect him if he was a bad person. 

But Magnus was a downworlder, and Aline had to convince herself that Magnus _was_ in fact trustworthy. 

“I mean, I talked to him. He seems polite, but can I really trust him and know that he didn’t do anything…illegal?” 

Helen tilted her head briefly, a small smile making its way over her lips before she put her own hand on Aline’s. “Babe…I haven’t met Magnus yet, he did call for a meeting for next week with all downworlder leaders, but I’m positive that he did the right thing. What exactly did Magnus say? And how did he even get to the Warlock in the first place? I thought Underhill and Isabelle caught him?” 

Aline’s eyes slipped down to Helen’s hand resting on her own. She slowly brushed over the back of her hand, sending warm signals through Aline’s body. Aline looked into her face again, smiling brightly at her. “Underhill did capture him, yes. He called Isabelle instead of me first, asking for the next step. Isabelle was with Magnus at that time, though I have no idea how the two of them met in the first place. They both arrived at the place where they had captured Gideon and Magnus took care of him. He told me that the Warlock didn’t deserve to be turned into the Clave. He is a downworlder after all. He deserves to be treated as one.” Aline leaned back into the chair before she sighed deeply. 

“Magnus wants to find out why he did all of this in the first place. He told me that he brought him to the Spiral Labyrinth. I just hope that I can trust him, that we did the right thing. My mother…she…she got pretty mad when I told her that I let Magnus handle the whole thing, but I just think that he was right.” 

“He is. Whatever that Warlock did, he deserves fair treatment. And we all know that the Clave wouldn’t treat him like a downworlder. They would treat him like a monster.” Helen smiled at Aline. “You did the right thing, babe. And I’m sure Magnus is on our side. I’m proud of you for trusting him enough with this. Whatever your mother said to you, I’m sure she is in the wrong here.” 

Aline tilted her head while raising her brow. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that the whole of the Clave abuses its power. It’s humiliating for a downworlder to be faced with such…discrimination. Perhaps that Warlock did a lot of bad, terrible things. But he deserves to be treated like a downworlder. And the Clave wouldn’t treat him as such.” Helen scoffed briefly. “Heck, even I am afraid of going to Idris, Aline. Because my body is not only filled with angel blood, but also with demon blood. At the end of the day-”

“You’re one of them,” Aline finished her sentence. She smiled at Helen before putting her hand on Helen’s again. “I’m sorry, babe. I really am. And I’m trying my best to make a change. To make the Clave realize that downworlders aren’t our enemies. To…to make them see the good in them. To treat them equally.” 

“And you’re doing a perfect job at it, babe. I believe in you just as much as I believe in Magnus doing the right thing here. I’m sure he got the answers he wanted and if not, he will with the help of the Spiral Labyrinth.” A smile crept onto Helen’s lips. She studied Aline’s face, fell in love again with her tiny dimples on her cheeks, her warm eyes, and her beautiful, dark hair. “Did I ever tell you how proud I am of you? For doing all of this to give us a better future?” 

Aline returned the smile before she said proudly. “I’m trying my best.” 

“And you’re doing an amazing job.” Helen giggled brightly, taking her fork again to continue eating her pasta. Aline watched her for quite a while, how the light of the candle got reflected in her eyes, letting them shine like a thousand stars. Aline’s smile grew bigger while she started shaking her head silently. She grabbed her fork as well and started eating, keeping an eye on Helen’s beauty. She never loved anyone as much as she loved Helen. The woman had changed her life for the better, changed her point of view on the downworld. 

And deep down Aline hoped that she could change the world into the one where Helen was able to unapologetically be herself.

She was _sick_ of avoiding a meeting with her mother, just because Helen was with her. Just because her mother couldn’t stand the fact that she fell in love with a half downworlder. Aline couldn’t even blame her mother. She grew up that way, hating on downworlders, thinking the Shadowhunters were superior… a better race. 

But at the end of the day, they all looked the same underneath their skin. Aline had accepted that fact a long time ago when Helen first entered the Institute, smiling at her with her unique look, her fascinating eyes, and a smile that could move mountains. 

Aline promised herself that she would do everything to make her family accept Helen for what she is, for the blood that flowed through her veins. And if it meant trusting Magnus with this, making her mother understand that all of this was part of equal treatment, then she would go with it. She wasn’t like the Clave, she did things differently the second she started leading the Institute, promising change and improvement. This was part of it, part of the improvement for herself and the downworld. 

And Aline hoped that Magnus would be a good partner in crime. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Isabelle walked aimlessly through the hallways of the Institute. She had been texting with Maia for the whole day already, always checking up on her and asking if they could meet for dinner the next day. She loved spending time with Maia in the bar, but sometimes she just wanted to go out with her and get away from all the supernatural people for one night. Eating at a nice restaurant…walking through the streets of New York in peace. It sounded lovely.

Maia told her that she would have the day off the next day, which made the date possible after all. Isabelle smiled to herself before she put her phone away to enter the main hall of the Institute. She saw her mother standing in front of one of the huge screens, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Isabelle figured that she was probably reading through the same case again. She couldn’t make peace with it for whatever reason. 

“Mom,” Isabelle called out to her mother, making her flinch slightly before she closed the case all of a sudden, turning to her daughter. 

“Isabelle.” A small smile rested on Maryse’s lips, hiding how tired she really was after all these years of restless nights due to the case she seemed to be obsessed about. She got colder over the years, especially since the Warlock had caused more damage to everyone. 

Isabelle can’t recall if her mother was already cold when she was younger, she remembered having a wonderful childhood even though her mother raised her alone. Her father left the family relatively quickly. Isabelle can’t recall much from Robert. He and Maryse broke up when Isabelle was only two years old. They never told her the reason for the breakup, but Isabelle was proud of her mother nevertheless. For years she was leading the Institute without Robert by her side, raising Isabelle and giving her as much attention as she could. Eventually, Jia contacted Maryse and asked her about her future plans with Isabelle, but Maryse didn’t want to take all the freedom away from Isabelle. She wanted her daughter to have an independent life, which ended up with her being the weapon’s master and the leader for all missions. Aline took over the Institute as soon as her training was over and Maryse became a normal Shadowhunter again. 

And Isabelle thought it was a good idea to get Maryse back to the normal daily routine of the Institute, especially since they heard about Robert's sudden death a few years ago. No one knew the exact information about how he died, but Isabelle hoped deep down that he suffered a terrible death. She didn’t even care about her father dying in the first place, he had left Maryse behind when she had needed him the most.

But none of them expected Maryse to get fully invested in a case that she had no control of after all. 

“You were looking through the case again?” Isabelle her mother eventually, taking a deep breath and crossing her arms in front of her chest as well. 

“No I- I wasn’t, I-” Maryse choked on her own words, hesitating to find an excuse. 

Isabelle stepped forward, clicking on the screen to open up the file again. She stared at the picture of Gideon or whatever his real name was. She read over the report that Aline had written down. 

“Why can’t you make peace with this whole thing?” Isabelle asked her mother without facing her, still reading over the report. Maryse was following Isabelle’s eyes, reading over the words again. “What are you worried about, Mom? This was our enemy, and we finally caught him. Isn’t that what you always wanted? What _we_ always wanted?” 

Maryse took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders. “I’m not worried,” she eventually said. She took her gaze away from the screen to look at her daughter. “I just hope that Magnus Bane got the information he wanted. I do believe it was the right thing to do. To hand him over to Magnus instead of turning him into the Clave.” 

Isabelle raised her brow in curiosity. “Since when do you think it was the better option to hand him over to another downworlder?” Isabelle sounded skeptical. She was amazed by her mother’s mindset, especially since she was always against downworlders for as long as Isabelle could remember. Isabelle turned her head to face her mother. 

“Since I saw how much Aline loves Helen. Since I saw that downworlders _can_ be good people after all. Although Helen is a hybrid.” 

Isabelle hated that word. She never differentiated between Helen and Aline, between Maia and herself. They all looked the same underneath their skin. 

Isabelle was skeptical. “So you think he is a good person? That’s why you kept reading through the file?” 

Maryse closed her eyes in pain for just a second, almost not visible. The amount of pain that rested on her shoulders was immense. 

“I think he deserves fair treatment. I do believe in the good of everyone, Isabelle.”

“You believe in the good of downworlders?” Isabelle raised her eyebrow again. She really wanted to believe her mother’s words, she wanted to introduce Maia to her. But she just couldn’t. After all those years of her mother hating and despising the downworld just for barely breathing at the surface of their society, it was an impossible concept for Isabelle to grasp.

“Isn’t that what Aline tries to teach all of us? To accept the downworld for what it is? Maybe this is the first step of accepting them, realizing that Warlocks aren’t our problem after all.” 

Isabelle narrowed her gaze at Maryse. “You’ve been watching this case for the past several years, mom. Aline asked me multiple times what the deal is with you and this case. What aren’t you telling me? What aren’t you telling _us_?” 

Maryse closed her eyes again, turning away from Isabelle before biting on her own lip, swallowing down all the pain and frustration she’s been carrying around ever since Isabelle was born. 

“I’m not hiding anything, Isabelle. This whole thing was just extremely tiring for me. I’m glad it’s over. I hope Magnus made sure of a fair treatment for him after all.” 

Isabelle took a deep breath before she grabbed her phone to open the chat with Maia once again. 

_How about…I introduce you to my mother tomorrow?_

Isabelle looked at her mother once more. “You free tomorrow night?” she asked her, her lips forming a small smile. 

Maryse hesitated with her answer, not knowing where this question came from all of a sudden. 

“I should be, why?” 

Isabelle looked down at her phone again. 

MAIA 

_I mean, I’m up for it. Where do you want us to meet then?_

Isabelle took some time before texting back. At first she wanted to choose a neutral place, but then she remembered how her mother said she has become closer to accepting the downworld. 

_How about the bar after all? Just you not standing behind the bar this time._

“I wanna introduce you to someone. Tomorrow, seven PM.” A small smile crept onto Isabelle’s lips, filled with hope that her mother will finally learn to accept her the way she was. 

Maryse returned the smile. “I’ll be waiting right here,” she said quietly, her hair falling over her shoulders as she turned her head back to the screen to look at the picture of Alec once more. There was just something that caught her eye. 

And Isabelle wanted to know what it was. She wanted to know so badly. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


“After you took the potion, the pain of losing your husband will vanish into thin air, Ms. Davis.” Magnus smiled at the elderly woman. She has been a customer of Magnus for quite some time now. Recently she lost her husband to cancer, causing her heart to ache in pain. She was the type of customer that Magnus loved dearly. He always talked to her for quite some time after he did the job. Her payment wasn’t that bad either, she was quite a wealthy woman. 

“Thank you, Magnus. I don’t know how I can make this up to you.” Her hand rested on Magnus’ shoulder, a smile lay on her lips. 

“You don’t have to thank me. It was my pleasure, Ms. Davis. If you need anything, just text me,” Magnus replied with a warm smile. “I’ll be one call away.”

Ms. Davis nodded before she handed over the tiny leather bag with the jewels for Magnus. He loved to collect any kind of jewels from around the world. And Ms. Davis had quite a lot. 

Normally he would’ve stayed over for a cup of tea, but his phone rang all of a sudden. He excused himself before he answered the phone, reading over the caller’s name before answering with: “My dearest Maia! What can I do for you?” 

“Hey Magnus, sorry to disturb you with whatever you’re doing right now-” 

“I just finished my work here, what’s wrong?” Magnus cut off Maia right away, realizing that her voice seemed tense. 

“We have two Warlocks in the bar right now and I think they’re about to start a fistfight. And I really don’t know how things end with y’all and your magic.” 

Magnus suppressed his laugh. “I will be right there, okay? Keep them cool, Maia.” Magnus ended the phone call before he turned around to face Ms. Davis again. He tilted his head slightly. 

“As you just heard-”

“You need to go. Maybe next time?” Ms. Davis smiled at Magnus, making Magnus give a small smile of his own. 

“I insist that we have a cup of tea next time, Ms. Davis! Stay safe,” Magnus hugged her before he left her house to open up a portal right in front of it. Usually, he loved to just walk over to the Hunter’s Moon, but he didn’t know much about the situation so far. Warlocks could get extremely heated when they’re in an argument, and Magnus wanted to avoid his people having a whole fight in Maia’s bar. 

When Magnus stepped out of the portal, he already heard the heated voices of Travis and Talon. Both of them were fighting about the rules of billiards. Nothing that Maia couldn’t have solved alone, but since they both threatened to use their magic against each other she didn’t want to take the risk. 

“Can you just stop?” Maia’s voice sounded angry as Magnus opened the door to the bar. He stepped inside without any hesitation and instantly walked in between Travis and Talon. His cat eyes glowed with anger when he used his magic to push them apart from each other. 

“What is wrong with you two?!” He raised his voice in anger. His fingers were surrounded by blue magic, ready to unleash its power within the blink of an eye. “Are you kidding me? Risking a fight because of a fucking _game?_ ” Both of them were relatively young, not knowing how much power they actually had. And yet Magnus knew that there was someone out there who _knew_ how much power he had, but wasn’t allowed to walk around as freely as Talon and Travis. 

“Well if he just would’ve let me have the win,” Travis gritted through his tears, his fangs showing up for a brief second. His voice was filled with anger and frustration. Magnus turned his head towards Travis. 

“Listen here, Travis. I know you’re still pretty young, but our magic is powerful enough to kill thousands of innocent people if we can’t control it. And using it just because you lost a game of pool doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. How about you both fucking calm down before I have to make you calm down?” He winked at Travis, his magic lighting up for just a second to scare him off. Everyone in the bar knew how powerful Magnus was and that he was, actually, in a powerful position nowadays. No one wanted to get sent to the Spiral Labyrinth for causing unnecessary trouble. 

Magnus looked back at Talon who finally dropped his hands, taking a deep breath before he finally nodded. “I’ll call it a day then,” he gritted through his teeth while unclenching his jaw. They both apologized for their behavior before they left the bar and everyone got back to what they were doing before. Drinking, talking, playing pool, and playing darts. Maia walked back to her bar, Magnus following her closely. 

“Thank you,” she said to him as she prepared a martini for him. Magnus checked the time before he sat down on one of the chairs. 

“No need to thank me. You know I’m always just a call away,” he replied with a smile, taking the glass and sipping on it immediately. He had about an hour left before he’d have to head back to his loft to meet Alec. 

“So?” Maia started the conversation after cleaning up the mess behind the bar, drying some glasses with her towel. “How did your night go with him?”

“You sound like I fucked him.”

“Didn’t you?” 

Magnus gave Maia a telling look, his eyes turned into a thin line.

“Of course I didn't, Maia.” 

“You know what I mean.” Maia pointed with her head to the other customers. Most of them were werewolves, extremely good listeners. Magnus looked over to them for a quick moment before he faced Maia again. 

He took a deep breath before he started to speak. “It was…quite alright I’d say? I got some information out of…” Magnus choked on his own words, rethinking his next ones. 

“out of the demon,” he eventually finished more quietly. He caught Maia’s attention with those last three words, causing her to put down the towel, leaning over the bar to not catch the attention of any other customer. 

“What do you mean by _demon_ , Magnus?” 

Magnus’ eyes went up to Maia’s gaze. He blinked a few times, remembering what the demon had said to him. What he knew about the whole situation. A cold shiver went down his spine.

“You can’t tell anyone.” 

“We established that I won't tell anyone about him in the first place,” Maia replied with a small grin. Magnus chuckled briefly while the corner of his lips went up slowly. He knew he could trust Maia more than anyone. 

Magnus took a quick sip from his drink before he put it down again. The werewolves left the bar at the same time, which meant they were safer with their talking for now.

“It’s not some kind of dark magic sitting inside of Alec. It’s a demon, Maia. And it’s a pretty strong one as well.” Magnus inhaled deeply. “He talked to me, he knows all the answers that Alec is searching for, but I can’t tell Alec. That fucking demon hears everything that Alec is saying throughout the day. I have no choice but to not tell Alec in order to…protect him.” Magnus closed his eyes after the last two words, realizing what he had just said out loud. 

“You care for him already?” Maia smiled at him and it was an honest smile. She knew Magnus well enough to tell that he cared deeply already. 

“He deserves to be cured of this, Maia.” 

“I’m not saying he doesn’t. I’m just…you know he’s wanted. And everyone expected you to turn him in. What do you even mean by he knows everything?” 

“He mentioned my mother…he knows who I am and he knows how to hurt people.” Magnus faced Maia again, his lips being surrounded by a sad smile. 

“What…did he mention?” Maia seemed concerned about whatever Alec’s demon said to Magnus. She didn’t know much about Magnus’ family situation, but she knew that he had bad trauma when it came to his mother. 

“Doesn’t matter,” Magnus replied immediately, taking another sip from his glass. “What matters is that I’m doing the right thing, Maia. I know it’s the right thing. He is begging for help.” 

Maia smiled at her friend, taking her own glass to sip from it. “I trust you with that, Magnus. I’m sure you’ll do the right thing. Just take care of yourself as well, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt, because you want to help him so badly. If it’s not working-”

“Then I’m gonna turn him in, yes.” Magnus smiled back at Maia, taking out his wallet to pay for his drink. “I have to go now…he should be at my place soon.”

“You allow him to walk around freely?” 

“He’s not an animal, Maia. Of course, he can do whatever he wants when it’s not nighttime. He’s not doing any harm when he’s himself.” Magnus winked at Maia before he got up and left the bar without another word to Maia. 

He checked the time once again, realizing that it was around 11 PM now. Alec should be coming around sooner rather than later. Magnus headed back into his loft with the use of his portal to get ready for another night of meeting Alec’s own enemy. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Magnus jumped out of the portal and landed elegantly on his couch, the portal closing right behind him. He snapped his fingers before he had a martini in his hand. He took a deep breath and threw his head back while he closed his eyes. He was already exhausted from his day, but he knew that the worst, most dangerous thing was yet to come. 

Magnus rolled his shoulders before he put his glass down on the table in front of him. Only now he realized that his loft smelled like… _burnt marshmallows_. Magnus looked around before he went up and walked over to his kitchen. He heard that someone was humming to a beat that was playing from the radio. He knew it could only be Alec since his wards didn’t warn him of any danger when he entered his home. 

As he opened the door to the kitchen, he got to see how Alec tried to hold his wings as close to his back as possible. He was about to put a S’More together when Magnus stepped into the kitchen, leaning against the counter. He observed Alec quietly, not alerting him to the fact that he was there yet. 

A small smile crept onto Magnus’ lips. Alec seemed almost like an angel in his kitchen. The warm glow of Magnus’ overhead lights threw a soft tone onto Alec’s wings, making them seem brighter than usual. Alec preferred the dark, but Magnus didn’t understand why. He was beautiful, angelic. 

Magnus tilted his head slightly as he noticed how Alec’s wings lightened up in a ruby red the longer Magnus stood in the doorway to the kitchen. Magnus followed Alec’s hand movements. He snapped his finger to lower the volume of the radio's speaker before he grabbed the plate which was filled with some kind of S’Mores. They looked burned. 

As Alec turned around to the door he flinched as he saw Magnus standing in the entrance, letting go of the plate. His wings also snapped forward, away from his back in defense. And because of that, one of Magnus’ glasses fell off the counter, together with it a cereal bowl and the container of milk. Magnus snapped his fingers immediately and saved the plate from falling on the ground. It was the only thing he was able to save though. He caught it with his magic, looking back at Alec with a warm smirk. 

“Care to tell me what you tried to do here?” 

“Well, what does it look like?” Alec crossed his arms in front of him, his wings aching in pain already. Alec leaned down in between the counter and Magnus’ kitchen island, causing more things to fall down. Magnus had to suppress his laughter, stepping into the kitchen. 

“Let me help you, step aside.” Magnus grabbed the shatters of the glass and the cereal bowl. Alec had stepped aside, hopped on the kitchen island to not destroy further things in Magnus’ loft. 

“Sorry. I’m not used to being in such a small, tight, crowded kitchen. I just wanted to-” Alec looked down at the plate. “I wanted to thank you somehow. But I can’t cook.” 

“Are those supposed to be S’Mores?” Magnus asked, amused. He tried to not burst out laughing because he really appreciated his gesture. He tilted his head slightly before he grabbed one of the pieces. 

“Well,” Alec mumbled quietly. “I tried to follow the instructions that my phone told me to do. Although I didn’t know how your stove works.” Alec looked back at Magnus’ stove and shrugged, his wings slowly brushing over the kitchen island. 

Magnus chuckled quietly before he snapped his fingers and a new plate appeared right in between them, filled with freshly, handmade S’mores. He looked up to Alec again, meeting his gaze for just a second before Alec broke it and rolled his eyes. 

“I could’ve done the same thing. Don’t start bragging.” 

“Why didn’t you do it then?” Magnus hopped onto the kitchen counter across from Alec, grabbing a S’More beforehand. He bit into the small snack and started chewing on it. “It’s delicious!” he called out in excitement. He had closed his eyes in pleasure as he heard a soft hum from Alec. As Magnus opened his eyes again, he saw how Alec looked down at the plate. He didn’t feel like eating anymore. He felt alone even though Magnus was right in front of him. He would’ve loved it if Magnus had sat down next to him. But he didn’t, he kept a safe distance. Alec’s wings ached again; a shiver of pain ran down his spine. 

“You don’t want to taste one? They’re really good,” Magnus pointed to the plate right next to Alec, but the Warlock just chuckled. 

“I bet they are,” he whispered with a sad smile. 

Magnus saw that Alec was disappointed. Disappointed in himself that he failed to make something as simple as S’Mores. He wanted to surprise Magnus in a good way, making him a snack before the clock hits midnight. 

“Well I wanted to try them myself. As kind of a thank you for doing all of this for me. Even though you barely know me,” Alec explained eventually, coming back to Magnus’ question. His voice sounded defeated, weak, painful. His wings flinched in pain. He wanted to stretch them out, flapping them shortly to get past the pain, but he couldn’t just do it in Magnus’ kitchen. 

Magnus looked back at Alec’s plate. He grabbed it a second later and hopped off the counter, walked over to the kitchen island, and hopped onto it, right next to Alec. 

And Alec heard how his heart started to pound in his ears. He had to hold his breath, closing his eyes before he turned his head away from Magnus, avoiding eye contact with him. He felt how the blood rushed to his cheeks. But his wings immediately felt better the second Magnus sat down next to him. 

“What did you do today?” 

“I was here,” Alec replied immediately. He took a deep breath before he met Magnus’ warm gaze. He smiled at Alec. “I- I mean I was in the room, on your balcony…and eventually, I was hungry and, well...I tried to make S’Mores.” Alec pointed to the plate with his attempt at S’Mores. He chuckled brightly when he looked back at Magnus, his wings aching in pain again and causing him to clench his jaw. 

“You didn’t go to the cafe today?” Magnus’ smile grew bigger. He raised one of his brows in question. 

“You told me to stay hidden.” 

“You know you can also hide at your own place.” 

Alec opened his mouth, ready to tell Magnus that he preferred his place over his own. But he couldn't just say that, could he? Magnus was almost like a stranger to him. He barely knew him, but Alec trusted him already. And he knew from the past that this may be a mistake. But Magnus seemed different. 

“Your wings hurt, don’t they?” Magnus questioned him quietly before he took a S’More off Alec’s plate. He saw in the corner of his eye that Alec was watching him subtly while he took a bite off the S’More. 

“They aren’t _that_ bad, trust me, they will be perfect with the right technique.” Magnus smiled at him brightly. He wanted him to feel better, but the pain was written all over his face. Magnus took a deep breath before he put his hand on Alec’s shoulder, lightly brushing over it, slipping down his back to touch his wings. Alec closed his eyes immediately, leaning into the touch. He enjoyed it more than he wanted to admit. The pain became numb, almost not noticeable. 

Magnus smiled warmly at Alec, brushing through the feathers to take the pain away from Alec for the time being. Each feather turned into a soft ruby red as soon as Magnus’ fingertips touched them. It felt good, even for Magnus. His wings felt warm, though not as hot as they felt for Alec. It was a pleasant feeling. 

“Thank you,” whispered Alec in response to Magnus’ gesture. “You…you don’t have to do that.” 

“It’s helping you. Why wouldn’t I do it in the first place?” 

A small smile crept onto Alec’s lip. He didn’t know why Magnus’ touches helped him so much, why they calmed him down and distracted him from the pain. But all of that didn’t change the fact that the clock started to tick for Alec. His bones started to ache in pain, his skin started to itch. 

“Magnus…I need to get to your room.” 

“I know,” Magnus replied slowly, still brushing through Alec’s feathers. He rarely felt anything as soft as Alec’s wings. They reacted so beautifully to Magnus’ touch. It seemed more magical to him than Alec’s whole being. 

“Let’s go, okay? Before your demon comes out to see your _horrible_ S’Mores.” 

“I thought they were quite okay?” 

“I’m a good liar.” Magnus hopped off the counter to follow Alec into the guest room. They had around fifteen minutes left until Alec’s demon would take his place. 

Alec sat down in front of the bed and Magnus started drawing the pentagram in front of him. In the meantime, Alec prepared the handcuff and followed Magnus’ elegant hand movements with the sand from Edom. He couldn’t get rid of how beautiful Magnus’ fingers looked like, how his rings reflected the lighting of the lamp standing right next to the bed. And how his nail polish shimmered in the damp lighting. His hands were simply too beautiful to not pay attention to them. 

“You gonna get answers again?” Alec asked hoarsely, clearing his throat afterward. 

Magnus didn’t know how to answer in a polite way. He didn’t feel like getting answers tonight. He wanted to keep studying the demon that sat inside of Alec, observing his emotions and actions when he is in control of Alec’s body and mind. 

But facing him? He wasn’t ready for it yet. The words from the night before still haunted him, crawling up his spine as soon as Magnus stopped paying attention to his surroundings. 

Besides, the demon was able to hear everything that Magnus was saying to him. Which meant he knew that Magnus had spoken to Alec about all of this. He knew that _if_ Magnus would stay in the room, the demon would take advantage of the situation. Just to hurt both of them. 

“I’m not sure yet. We will see what will happen tonight.” Magnus finished his last word before he took Alec’s hand to close the handcuff with his magic. They looked at each other shortly after, letting their eyes meet. Magnus saw that Alec’s eyes were nothing but warm, filled with trust and desperation. He wanted to get better. He wanted Magnus to find a cure. 

Magnus got lost in the moment, seeing how deep Alec’s eyes led him. It was a forest filled with mysteries and dangerous adventures. He was able to see the darkness inside of the forest, but he knew that all that Alec needed was a hand to lead him through the nightmare that was built up around the brown hazelnut tree in the middle of all of this.

“You ready?” Magnus asked eventually, clearing his throat after he blinked rapidly. 

Alec chuckled darkly. “I don’t have much of a choice, do I? Yes, I’m ready.” They smiled at each other, probably more than they wanted to in the first place, but Magnus just couldn’t stop staring into Alec’s beautiful eyes. 

And yet Magnus got ripped back from his thoughts as he heard Alec clearing his throat. “Magnus?” he asked quietly. His voice sounded so peaceful that Magnus almost forgot what was about to happen. Magnus blinked quickly before he started shaking his head, snapping his fingers as he stepped back from the pentagram and the flames started to light up the room. 

He _hated_ getting lost in Alec’s eyes. 

He hated how quickly he lost control as soon as he was around Alec. He had no idea why the Warlock had such force over Magnus’ mind and body, but he knew it wasn’t a good sign. He was supposed to stay professional with him. But his heart couldn’t. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Magnus couldn’t recall for how long he's been sitting outside the room, but he didn’t leave yet. He said to Alec that he would go over to his office to study his feather once again, but he just sat down right next to the door. He didn’t want Alec to be alone when he was about to turn. And it was still painful to hear Alec turning. He yelped in pain, causing Magnus to close his own eyes in pain. He didn’t want him to suffer anymore, especially not alone. But Magnus had to make sure the demon had no clue that he was close. So he had sat down to still be close to Alec in case something happened during the transition. 

He conjured Alec’s feather in front of him and started studying it. Magnus came up with a tracking spell for the feather so that he was always able to track Alec down, no matter where he was. But the whole thing wasn't working yet. The feather jumped up in the air and switched colors, turning darker than usual before it fell onto the ground again. Magnus knew it was possible to come up with a working tracking spell, he just needed more time. Though he had lost track of time. He took a look at his smartphone, realizing it was 3 AM already. He hadn’t heard from Alec in quite a while. The demon seemed to be quieter as soon as Magnus wasn’t in the room. 

But Magnus didn’t know much about Alec’s demon yet. He knew nothing about what he was capable of. 

Alec started screaming all of a sudden. And Magnus dropped everything that he was doing at that moment to rush into the room within a second. What he didn’t expect was Alec’s demon laughing at him only a second later. It was nothing but bait to lure Magnus into the room. 

“You really are that desperate already, huh? Bold of you to assume that your _boyfriend_ would be sitting here, screaming for your help... To be honest, we both know people around you tend to get hurt, so if I were him... Oh, right, I am,” the demon chuckled darkly.

“I'm so deep under his skin it's only a matter of time before he gives up, and maybe then you and I could extend our Rendez-vous to daytime as well?” He winked at Magnus right after he finished his sentence, a devilish smile resting on his lips. He had Magnus right where he wanted him to be; by his neck. 

“Shut up, will you?” 

“You know, I love how I have my own little slave that will do anything for me. You’re so weak when it comes to your lovely Alexander, aren’t you?” 

Magnus gritted his teeth, clenching his hand in frustration. “You’re the one who’s tied up to a bed, demon.” 

“Oh yeah, right. How genuine of you to tie me up to your bed already. How was your day, Magnus? Still missing mommy?” Alec leaned back against the bed frame, smiling broadly at Magnus. 

Magnus, on the contrary, leaned against the doorframe, avoiding his gaze totally, trying to ignore his words. It wasn’t that he got hurt because of what the demon said, it was because he said it in Alec’s voice. Magnus just decided to ignore him completely, turning around and leaving the room again. He needed to sleep. At least for around three hours, until Alec would turn back to normal again, passing out so that Magnus can free him from the handcuffs. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


The next day was weird. When Magnus got up Alec had already left the loft, not leaving any text or note behind. He was just gone, but that was alright for Magnus. At the end of the day, Alec wasn’t a prisoner trapped inside Magnus’ loft. Maybe he needed another Americano, maybe he needed some time off from Magnus’ loft and everything around him. After all, he had said to Magnus that he was a loner. Magnus worked the whole time and got pretty much distracted from everything. He didn’t have time to meet up with any of his friends that day; he couldn’t even talk to Maia because she had a day off. 

And yet as the night slowly came closer, Magnus started to worry about where Alec was. He wasn’t answering any calls or any of his texts, and Magnus had no clue where he could be. He checked his flat since Magnus knew where the place was by now. But Alec wasn’t in sight, and Magnus was running out of time for the night. He begged that Alec wouldn’t get caught, whatever would happen that night. Magnus started walking around Brooklyn, always looking out for Alec in the allies and at his usual hotspots from the past. But he was nowhere to be found, and for the first time, Magnus thought about the deal again. Was it really a good idea to let Alec out of his apartment once the night was over? Knowing that the demon knew that he was trapped every night in a pentagram. Maybe it wasn’t hard for him to take over Alec earlier than usual, maybe it was all part of the plan. 

But above all, Magnus was worried. Worried about Alec in the first place. Worried that he might get caught, that the whole deal would be exposed to the Clave sooner than later. Before Magnus even got any information about a cure for Alec. He would disappoint Alec, just like everyone else in his past had betrayed and disappointed Alec already. But there was nothing that Magnus could’ve done. He didn’t find him, so he returned to his loft, waiting for Alec all night long, going to work at around 8 AM. There was still no sign of Alec; no text, no call. Magnus had to leave it for now though. He had to concentrate on his work and clients. Although the thought of losing Alec didn’t leave his mind for a second. He just _couldn’t_ lose him. 

When Magnus jumped out of the portal into his loft because he had just finished his last client, he was met with sad hazel eyes looking at him. It was Alec, standing right in front of him. It was only around 8 PM. 

“Alexander-” Magnus choked on his words. 

“I…I'm sorry. I don’t- I don’t know what happened yesterday night."

Magnus crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I was fucking worried, why the hell didn’t you answer any of my calls? Why didn’t you reply to my text?” His voice sounded harsh, although he couldn’t blame everything on Alec. Alec is helpless as soon as the demon takes over. 

“I- I wanted to. I just thought that…you would think that I didn’t show up on purpose. I really wanted to, I swear Magnus.” Alec sounded defeated, exhausted. 

“Did your demon come through earlier than usual?”

“I can’t remember. I can’t remember anything from yesterday. The last thing I remember is how I left your apartment after I woke up.” 

Magnus sat down on the couch, Alec still standing across from him, keeping a safe distance between him and Magnus. Magnus folded his hands in between his lap. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes in frustration. 

“We have to find a solution here, Alexander. Who knows what you did yesterday. The Institute didn’t inform me about anything, but…who knows what will happen next time. Why didn’t you just answer my calls today? Don’t you realize that I’m worried about you? And I’m worried about the people you're putting at risk if you’re going around at night. You’re putting _yourself_ at such a huge risk.”

Alec rolled his shoulder. He got heated due to the discussion with Magnus. He knew he fucked up, but there was no point in blaming him for the whole thing now. 

“I’m sorry, okay? What do you want me to say? It’s not easy for me either, Magnus. I wish I could just hop in the second I feel like that demon is taking over. But sadly, I don’t have any kind of fucking control the second he takes over. He knows how weak I am.”

“You’re not weak, Alexander.”

“Damn right, I am! And you know it, the demon knows it. I can’t be fucking fixed apparently because no matter what you do, no matter what we try, the demon will always be one step ahead of us.” Alec almost yelled at him, causing Magnus to stand up. He got closer the longer Alec spoke up about the issue, causing Alec to lower his voice. His wings were burning in pain, glowing a dark red. 

“Alexander…”

“You should’ve turned me in, Magnus. You should not put any of this on your shoulders. If you care so much about the people I’m putting at risk and their lives, you should’ve just put me in jail.”

Magnus inhaled deeply before he opened his mouth again. “I am trying so hard to help you, to get you back on track. I’m trying to find a cure for your goddamn curse and you’re just giving up? Is it that easy for you? To push people away from you that care? You know the second I turn you in you’ll be dead! And I don’t want that for you, Alexander. You’re still so young, you’re smart and brilliant. You deserve a fucking chance.”

Alec raised his gaze once more, looking at Magnus with such desperate eyes that Magnus believed Alec had lost all the hope that was left inside of him. 

“Maybe it’s for the better if I’m dead.” He waited for an answer. Waited for Magnus to say something, anything in return. 

But Magnus stayed quiet. He stayed quiet for too long.

Eventually, Alec brushed through his hair and walked past Magnus to avoid any eye contact. His wings were slightly brushing against Magnus’ hand, causing Alec to close his eyes due to the pleasure and the feeling that was sent down his spine. He was heading to the balcony to leave Magnus’ place again. But when he was stretching out his wings, Magnus’ voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Maybe I’m not turning you in because I haven’t given up on you yet.” Magnus turned around to Alec, hoping he would do the same. “I don't _want_ to give up on you. Just like you did years ago. I’m not like that.” Magnus raised his head to meet Alec’s eyes, glowing darkly at him. 

“Maybe I want to save your dumb, selfless ass,” Magnus concluded quietly, letting his shoulders fall slowly. He was just looking at Alec, seeing how he clenched his hands into fists. How he gritted his teeth. He seemed angry, his whole body language told Magnus that Alec wasn’t feeling good. 

“If you still think you can, maybe you’re the dumb one here. Because I know I’m not. I know when to quit.” Alec took a deep breath before he continued. “But you just keep pushing, trying to exorcise my demons, literally, but at what point are you gonna look at me and see it's all fucking worthless? That I can’t be helped?” 

“I can help you. It will take time, but I can.” 

His whole body language spoke against Magnus. But one thing didn’t lie. _His wings._ They turned lighter the more Magnus spoke to him. And eventually, Alec started walking towards him. And he didn’t seem like he was about to stop. Magnus stepped back, not knowing what was about to happen, when suddenly Alec’s lips crashed into Magnus’. His hands cupped Magnus’ face as he pressed him against the wall behind him. 

Magnus moaned quietly as he felt how hot Alec’s lips were, whispering his name in a breath after another kiss. He didn’t know where to place his hands, so he wrapped them around Alec’s waist. The kiss wasn’t soft, it was a heated kiss; it was a kiss out of frustration, anger and desperation. 

“I can’t be saved, Magnus,” whispered Alec, his voice being nothing but a husky whisper. He kissed him again, pressing Magnus against the wall. His wings snapped forward, closing around them both as they continued kissing each other. Alec had put his knee in between Magnus’ legs, spreading them instantly. Both of them had felt the tension that lay in between them ever since they started talking. Neither could take their gaze off of the other’s lips. It was only a matter of time before one of them would have taken the risk. 

Alec kissed Magnus again, biting on his lips to make him moan again. In the meantime, Magnus brushed subtly through Alec’s feathers, making him shiver in pleasure. The feathers turned into the familiar ruby red that Magnus loved to see as soon as Alec was around him. 

Magnus eventually closed his eyes and leaned into the touch, completely ignoring their fight. Alec’s lips felt so good on his skin, his knee in between his legs completing the image; the feeling. 

“Alexan-”

“Shhh…not now,” Alec put a finger on Magnus’ lip while kissing down his jawline before his lips slipped down his neck, kissing the exposed skin slowly and with such desire that Magnus felt like melting between his hands. But in the end, he knew Alec did all of that as a distraction to the real problem that they had to deal with. 

Magnus pushed Alec away from him, although he already missed his lips on his skin. Both their breaths were unsteady, their lips swollen from the kisses, their eyes were filled with desire. 

“What the _hell_ are you doing, Alexander?” 

“You didn’t seem like you were against it.” 

“This is not how we solve _any_ of this.” 

“Is it not?” Alec tilted his head slightly, raising one of his brows. 

Magnus licked over his own lips, avoiding Alec’s gaze for as long as he could. He _knew_ Alec would be his downfall the second he had seen him. He had just hoped that he wouldn’t fall _that_ quickly. Magnus met Alec’s gaze and his face once again, how soft his hair looked, how his tongue licked over his own lip, how his wings were slowly rising and falling due to his unsteady breathing. After all that, he couldn’t resist any longer. 

“Fuck it,” Magnus said out loud before walking towards Alec again, cupping his face this time and kissing him deeply without any hesitation. Alec moaned into the kiss, his pupils being dilated as Magnus’ lips crashed onto his own, wrapping his hands around Magnus’ waist within seconds. He didn’t expect Magnus to go for it. But he wasn’t complaining either. He wanted this… Magnus wanted this. It was a win/win situation. 

Yet, Magnus didn’t go easy on Alec. His kisses were rough and he led both of them to his bedroom, deepening the kisses, opening Alec’s jacket while they didn’t stop kissing each other. Alec was busy trying to get rid of Magnus’ vest, playing around with the buttons on it. Magnus unzipped Alec’s jacket in the meantime and got rid of it within a second before laying his lips on the exposed skin, right above Alec’s collar. Magnus felt the tension between them grow. Their hands were wandering over each other, trying to find support in the shirt of the other one by crawling their fingertips into the fabric. Magnus’ fingers brushed over Alec’s feathers which glowed a garnet red. The touch sent a shiver down Alec’s spine, causing him to moan louder than before. Magnus smirked while he placed small kisses on Alec’s neck, combined with tiny bites of lust. He deepened his touch, gliding down Alec’s shoulder blades, following his spine until he reached the point where his wings were growing out of his shirt. 

Alec arched his back the second he felt Magnus’ fingers playing around with his wing bone. He moaned his name shortly before Magnus pressed his lips on his lips again, deepening the kiss to shut down his moans. 

“Your weakness?” he breathed against Alec’s lips in such a husky voice that Alec’s whole body started to shake in pleasure. He couldn’t answer; closing his eyes, he threw his head back to expose his neck even more to Magnus. Magnus licked over his carotid, ripping Alec’s shirt apart at the same time. 

Alec faced Magnus again, their eyes met for a brief period of time and yet Magnus was able to see the fire behind Alec’s eyes. The desire that _lured_ inside of them.

“You know how expensive that shirt was?” 

“You can get a new one. Buy one, use your magic, I _don’t_ care,” Magnus replied in a whisper, throwing the parts of Alec’s t-shirt aside. He kissed him again before Alec had the chance to answer him. His fingers ran around Alec’s wing bone, gliding up and down along the strong feathers. Alec’s moans became louder, stronger with each kiss that Magnus placed onto his collar bone. It was on him to push Alec onto the bed, once they had reached Magnus’ bed. He checked up on him, waiting for a nod from Alec to make sure he and his wings were fine before he followed him onto the bed, sitting down right onto his lap. He rolled his hips over Alec’s, bringing out a deep moan while Alec threw his head back onto Magnus’ golden silk pillow.

Magnus observed Alec’s desperate movements. His hands slowly wandered around Magnus’ back, slipping underneath Magnus’ shirt to discover all of his back muscles at once. Magnus continued to roll his hips over Alec. He felt that Alec couldn’t wait much longer, which also showed Magnus that he had to continue with whatever he had been doing already. He leaned down, his erection brushing over Alec’s. He kissed him deeply, his fingers running over Alec’s wings. Alec pulled Magnus’ shirt upward at the same time, his long fingers running over Magnus’ side before he slowly slid down, closer to his pants. Magnus kept biting on Alec’s lip, pulling it down just a bit so that he could hear Alec moaning against his lip. 

“Magnus,” he moaned against him when he felt Magnus sitting down on his lap again, exerting more pressure. 

“You want this?” Magnus asked in a whisper, breathing unsteady against Alec’s lips as Alec had opened his pants to brush over Magnus’ member lightly. He had to concentrate on Alec’s answer since he wanted to get his consent before going any further. He looked into Alec’s eyes, trying to find an answer as Alec was unable to talk, grabbing Magnus’ dick underneath his pants to make him growl in pleasure. 

“Yes,” Alec moaned against his swollen lips before he kissed him again, deepening it immediately. He heard the sound of Magnus’ glamour falling, breaking the kiss to look at him. A smirk rested on Alec’s lips as he was faced with the golden eyes of Magnus. 

Magnus’ lips were slightly parted, his breath becoming unsteady against Alec’s lips. He didn’t move, felt how Alec loosened his grip around his erection, cupping his face with his other hand. His thumb slowly brushed over Magnus’ cheek, causing him to lean into the touch. Alec’s eyes were glued to Magnus’. Alec never felt this kind of connection between him and another person before. 

“I want _you_ ,” Alec continued eventually, still looking at Magnus as if he was his _rarest_ treasure, something so precious and fragile that every touch could very well destroy him. 

Magnus leaned against Alec’s forehead, listening to his and Alec’s breathing for some time. His heart pounded in his ears, his fingers were shaking, searching blindly for Alec’s hands to intertwine their fingers. They rested their foreheads against each other, just listening to the other one. Magnus felt the connection; he felt the spark jumping over his heart, pulling it closer to Alec's. 

He was falling, and there was no one to hold him back. There was only Alec standing at the ground, opening his arms to catch him. 

Alec rested his legs around Magnus’ hips, finally pulling him closer to crash their lips together, licking against Magnus’ to start a war of fireworks inside of their mouths. He didn’t want to wait another minute, wanted to take the opportunity to challenge him. 

Neither of them knew what time it was. Neither of them seemed to care. Magnus took his chance as he exerted pressure onto Alec’s erection again, grabbing Alec’s hands to push them into the pillow above Alec’s head. He deepened the kiss, growling into it to make Alec realize who was leading the way. Magnus felt that Alec wasn’t used to being the passive part. He kept trying to push Magnus around, to take advantage of being taller. But he didn’t know how strong Magnus was in reality. 

“Don’t move,” Magnus hushed against his lips, winking at Alec before kissing down his jawline, _slowly._

It was torture, Alec believed. It was nothing but the torture of pleasure. His whole body felt lit up in flames and every time Magnus’ lips touched his skin, the spot started burning even more. His wings weren’t aching anymore, they weren’t itching anymore. They were screaming in pleasure. 

Alec continued to moan Magnus’ name, trying to hold himself back as Magnus licked down Alec’s chest, opening his jeans with one hand while brushing through his wings with his other hand. The feathers lighting up in every shade of red that was known by humanity. 

Alec never knew what heaven felt like but he sure knew by now that this is what it should feel like. He couldn’t even think straight anymore. Every spot that Magnus touched got flooded by desire and pleasure. Alec wanted so much more than just his touch. 

“Your wings are pretty sensitive, huh?” Magnus asked curiously, his voice being nothing but a dark, hoarse whisper. He didn’t expect Alec to answer since he unzipped his jeans at the same time.

As Magnus got rid of Alec’s jeans, he let his hand slip underneath his underwear, causing Alec to moan out his name, throwing his head back in pleasure. Magnus studied how Alec’s face changed, how his eyes rolled backward filled with lust. Magnus smirked, leaning over Alec and exerted more pressure around his dick. His free hand wandered off Alec’s wings, gliding around his neck. He kissed Alec again, putting pressure on his neck to kill off his moan while he started moving his hand painfully slow. 

But Magnus forgot about the fact that Alec had a bad memory associated with choking. 

Alec’s wings turned bloody dark, his eyes snapped open within a second, pushing Magnus off himself. His wings snapped forward, protecting Alec just for a second before he snapped forward and pushed Magnus into the bedsheet, pressing his hands around his neck. Magnus immediately choked on his own breath, trying to get Alec off himself but he had no chance against him. Alec was in a trance. 

“Alexan-” Magnus dug his fingernails into Alec’s wrists, hoping the pain would bring him to stop. 

“It’s oka-” He choked again, trying to breathe. Alec’s eyes were dark, almost black. Magnus had to think about something and he didn’t have much time. He didn’t want to hurt him; he could’ve just used his magic already. But he wanted to make sure that Alec wouldn’t go through another trauma. Magnus’ gaze slipped to Alec’s wings. They were still bloody red. 

Magnus released one of his hands off Alec’s wrist, reaching out for his wing. He brushed over his feathers, touching each one individually. He didn’t take his gaze off Alec, his cat eyes staring into his eyes, begging him to come back to him. 

And it worked; Alec loosened his grip, blinking a few times before he suddenly let go of Magnus completely, breaking away from him. He pushed himself to the other side of the bed. Magnus choked for air, rolling on the side while taking deep breaths. 

“Magnus-” Alec said eventually, not knowing whether to touch Magnus or not. His fingers were shaking; his body was acting weird, tensed. He couldn’t recall what had happened. 

“Magnus I- I am so…so sorry-” he stuttered. Magnus was facing him, his eyes still being golden, looking at him. He took a few deep breaths, calming himself down. Alec wanted to reach out for him, but he felt like a monster that couldn’t control himself. He pulled his hand back, clenching it into a fist. Alec bit his lower lip, lowering his head to avoid eye contact with Magnus. He didn’t mean to hurt him. He would’ve never hurt someone he cares about. His throat was dry all of a sudden, he felt like he was about to choke on his own tongue. 

“I…I better go. I’m…I should go to the room,” 

“Don’t-” Magnus said suddenly as Alec had already left the bed, collecting his things. Magnus had reached out for his hand, pulling him back onto the bed. 

“I shouldn’t have done this. It was my fault. I forgot about what Underhill did to you,” Magnus explained quietly, still taking deep breaths to calm his pulse. 

“Magnus, don’t-” 

“How about you lead the way? You can do anything you want to, Alexander. I trust you.” A small smile rested on Magnus’ lips. He knew the tension was still there in the way Alec studied every detail of Magnus’ chest while it was rising and falling in an unsteady rhythm. 

Alec clicked his tongue as he opened his mouth, unable to find the right words. His mouth still felt as dry as a desert. 

“I- I don’t want to hurt you again, Magnus. What if I do something that you don’t want? What if I-”

Magnus put his hand on Alec’s, causing Alec to stop in the middle of his sentence. “I trust you, Alec. And I don’t expect you to trust me with this yet, but I do. I know that I will tell you when to stop if I’m not enjoying any of this, okay?” 

“What if I can’t stop?” 

Magnus’ smile grew bigger as he slowly got up, supporting himself on his elbow. His cat eyes spoke a million languages right into Alec’s soul. “I know that if I will, you will stop.” 

“How?” Alec asked, confused, his head still hanging low. Uncertainty spoke out of him. “How do you know if I don’t even know it myself?” 

Magnus leaned over Alec, pressing a soft kiss on his lips and cupping his face with his right hand. He let his thumb run over Alec’s soft skin. 

“Because I saw who’s inside of you. And I know you’re nothing alike. I know you’re not a bad person, don’t think so less of yourself, Alexander.” Magnus’ breath tickled against Alec’s lips. 

“Take me,” Magnus whispered in such a husky tone that Alec’s eyes snapped to his in surprise. Magnus nodded to reassure Alec. He wanted this, he wanted Alec. 

And Alec wanted _him_. 

“You sure about this?” Alec licked over his own lips, trying to hold himself back as best as he could. He had to be 100% sure that Magnus _wanted_ him as well. 

And Magnus nodded, leaning into Alec to kiss him softly. “I want this,” he whispered against Alec’s soft, swollen lips. He smiled at him. “The question here is…do you?” his voice being nothing more but a small whisper of lust and desire. 

Alec started to smile again, nodding at Magnus before kissing him. “I want you so _bad_ ,” he replied shortly after, pushing Magnus down onto the sheets again, kissing him roughly, snapping his fingers to get rid of his pants and underwear at once. He didn’t want to waste any more time.

Magnus was raising his eyebrows in surprise. “Someone is needy, huh?” He smirked at Alec, letting his fingers run through his hair before brushing through his feathers again, causing Alec to moan into the kiss that he had started in order to shut Magnus up. Magnus decided to dig his fingers into Alec’s hair, for now. Now that Alec had the control, he didn’t know _what_ he planned. Alec let his hand slip between them, grabbing Magnus within seconds making him moan out loud when Alec’s fingers closed themselves around his erection. He threw his head back into the pillow, moaning his name in pleasure as Alec started to move his hand. Magnus’ fingernails dug into Alec’s shoulders, losing the grip seconds later, leaving scratches of lust. Alec kissed himself down Magnus’ chest, leaving burning traces of lust. It didn’t take him long until he had reached Magnus dick, taking it all at once. 

Alec was definitely not gentle with him, but Magnus wasn’t really in a position to complain. 

His hands were digging into the bedsheet, spreading his legs more, giving Alec the space that he needed. Although Magnus could only concentrate on Alec’s tongue, Alec let his hands run over Magnus’ side, exploring the golden skin that seemed extremely soft and well-toned at the same time. Magnus threw his head back, closing his eyes in pleasure as Alec’s name slipped over his lips again. He had no idea how good Alec’s tongue would feel like, but this was far beyond his expectation. 

Alec licked along the whole length, playing around the tip of Magnus’ dick, slowly and carefully. He listened to the noises that slipped out of Magnus’ lips, leading him in the right direction and to the pleasure spots for Magnus. Alec’s hand wandered to Magnus’ hips, following the line of his veins down to his shaft again before he replaced his tongue with his hand. Magnus twitched in pleasure underneath him, opening his eyes slowly as he felt Alec’s breath colliding with his lips. Alec smiled hungrily at him before he put a kiss on Magnus’ parted lips. 

“You’re never gonna forget this night, will you?” Alec growled against his lower lip, pulling it slowly down to hear him moan in pleasure. “Although I still hate you for your unending urge of needing to help me…you’re so fucking breathtaking,” Alec confessed, his eyelashes covering his eyes a little bit. Magnus just stared at him while he kept pushing his hips up to get the pressure that he needed, the movement that he craved. 

“Well,” Magnus breathed against Alec’s lips with a smirk. “You’re not the one out of breath yet,” His smirk grew bigger, winking at Alec before his eyes rolled back, feeling the pressure onto his erection as Alec exerted more pressure. 

“But I am just as ready as you are, Magnus.” Alec whispered into Magnus’ ear, huskily. A desire filled bite followed his words, causing Magnus to moan deeply into Alec’s ear. Alec loosened the grip he had around Magnus before he slowly ran his hand up Magnus' chest, playing around all the sensitive spots that Magnus showed him through his moans. 

They continued their playful foreplay before Alec eventually snapped his fingers and lube appeared in his hand. He was facing Magnus one more time, waiting for his nod, waiting for him to give him consent. 

Magnus smiled at him shortly, spreading his legs further and leaning back into the pillow. It got Alec to chuckle. “Turn around,” he ordered huskily, kissing his jawline one last time before he helped him turn around. 

“I want you on your hands and knees, and don’t you _dare_ lean down.” Alec’s voice was shaking in pleasure, just like Magnus’ moans were already. He was in so much control that it caused Magnus to get even closer to the edge without even being touched yet. Magnus did as he was told and supported himself on his knees and hands, looking straight against the back of the bed, waiting patiently for Alec, for _anything_. 

Magnus thought he was prepared for what was about to happen but as he felt Alec’s lips on his buttcheeks, he found it hard to hold himself up all of a sudden. A shiver of pleasure was sent down his spine until the point where Alec’s lips were resting on Magnus’ skin. Magnus cramped his hand, crawling himself into the bed sheet underneath him as he felt Alec’s tongue slipping further down, circling around his hole. Magnus tried hard to hold himself upright, to not give in the pleasure that Alec was giving him with his tongue. His fingers were sliding around Magnus’ butt, stretching his cheeks apart to get more space.

Alec licked himself into Magnus, listening to his deep and long moans. It didn’t take Magnus long until he started to move his hips backwards, trying to get more of Alec. But Alec held him in place, breaking away moments later to replace his tongue with one of his fingers. At the same time, Magnus threw his head back, rolling his eyes to the back of his head. The pleasure was almost unbearable. 

A smirk rested on Alec’s lips. “It’s interesting to see that the High Warlock of Brooklyn is nothing but a needy mess for my dick after all, huh?” 

“Shut up-” Magnus growled in pleasure. He still supported himself on his hands as he felt Alec’s fingers grabbing his hair to pull his head back. Alec’s breath brushed against Magnus’ ear. 

“I don’t think you’re in the position to give _me_ orders,” Alec whispered darkly before he chuckled and let go of Magnus’ hair, causing him to moan. Magnus’ head fell back down, his breath was unsteady, and his body was shaking. 

“More,” Magnus started begging quietly, eventually, as he couldn’t take it any longer. He needed more than just one finger from Alec. He needed all of Alec. 

“What was that?” Alec raised one of his brows as he pulled his finger out slowly, replacing it with two now. Magnus arched his back upwards while moaning. The length of Alec’s fingers were a huge advantage for both of them. 

“I didn’t hear you, Magnus,” Alec recalled again, curling his fingers, causing Magnus to growl his name. 

“I want more,” he begged again, louder this time. His voice was shaking, causing Magnus to blush. He had no idea his whole body would react this way to Alec, but he wasn’t complaining at all. He hadn’t had good sex in a while. Sex that he wouldn’t just forget the day after. 

Alec twisted his fingers, scissoring them to stretch Magnus as good as he could before he pulled them back, leaving Magnus empty. Magnus moaned in disappointment. It got harder to hold himself up, he wanted to lean down, to enjoy every touch that Alec was giving him, but he had to follow Alec’s orders if he wanted more. 

Magnus heard the sound of the lube, preparing himself for the cold feeling that he was about to be faced with. But he couldn’t prepare himself for the cold feeling combined with Alec slowly pushing inside of him. 

“Alexander!” he moaned out loud, bending his back, ready to break down as he felt Alec’s hand gliding underneath him, slowly brushing over his chest and belly. Magnus closed his eyes, breathing unsteadily, shakily. He felt Alec’s lips on his neck, biting in the soft skin and leaving marks behind. 

“I've got you,” Alec whispered in his ear, pushing deeper into him. His fingers brushed down to feel Magnus’ erection. He closed his fingers around it, causing Magnus to moan his name. 

“Alexander-” Magnus didn’t know what to concentrate on; he wanted to lean down, couldn’t hold himself up anymore. “I- I can’t.”

“You can,” Alec replied immediately, pulling himself back before he pushed deeper inside of Magnus, moving his hand in a rhythm to let Magnus see stars. He continued his hand movement until Magnus got close enough to the edge, letting go of Magnus to support himself on his butt, pushing faster and more roughly inside of him. Hearing Magnus’ moans was exactly what Alec needed that night. Alec decided to take over more, pushing Magnus’ upper body down, slapping his buttcheek roughly to let Magnus moan his name again. His thrusts became deeper again, bringing himself and Magnus closer to the edge. 

“Alexander I’m close,” Magnus whimpered in pleasure eventually, trying to support himself on his elbows again. His body was close to collapsing due to the pleasure that Alec was giving to him. 

But Alec was pushing him down again, pushing deeper into him, grabbing his hair before he pulled it back to make Magnus moan deeply. “Me too,” he whispered shakily in his ear, his voice being filled with deep lust and desire. It sent another shiver down Magnus’ spine. 

“Please,” Magnus begged again, clenching so hard into the bed sheet that his knuckles turned white. 

“Please what?” Alec asked out of breath, still thrusting into Magnus, each thrust getting him closer to the edge of the cliff. 

“Please let me come,” Magnus continued. He wanted Alec to touch him, knowing it would push him over the edge. “Please touch me, Alexander-” 

The way Magnus pronounced his name was almost enough to get Alec off, but he held himself back, pulling at Magnus’ hair stronger before he let his other hand slip around Magnus’ erection again, moving his hand in the rhythm of his thrusts. Magnus opened his mouth, his moans getting louder with each thrust that Alec was pushing inside of him. He saw stars, felt his own climax growing bigger inside of him. He couldn’t hold himself back for much longer. 

“God, Alexander-”

“He won’t help either of us.” Alec placed a kiss on Magnus’ shoulder blade. A smirk lying on his lips as he broke away from Magnus’ shoulder, exerting more pressure on Magnus’ member. Magnus had to bite onto his lip to suppress any more desperate moan to let Alec know that he was extremely close. He enjoyed every single thrust that Alec was pushing inside of him, didn’t want it to be over soon but he knew himself and his body. 

And Magnus was _so_ close to falling apart underneath Alec. 

He felt Alec’s breath once again brushing against his neck, causing goosebumps to rise over Magnus’ whole backside. He closed his eyes, concentrating on Alec’s fingers gliding around Magnus’ as he heard Alec’s voice pounding in the back of his head. 

“ _Let go,_ ” he whispered darkly in his ear and Magnus’ eyes snapped open, a moan escaping his lips as he realized that Alec's thrusts had become faster, deeper. He heard Alec moaning for the first time ever since he took over, realizing that Alec wasn’t holding himself back anymore. 

It was enough for Magnus. He closed his eyes again, moaning Alec’s name quietly into the pillow as he broke away from Alec’s grip, falling apart in front of him from the pleasure as Alec tumbled down the cliff with him. Magnus felt every bit of it, felt the heavy breathing from Alec, heard him taking deep breaths as he stopped moving. He had dug his fingernails accidentally into Magnus’ skin, leaving traces from their act. Alec closed his eyes shortly, trying to settle his breath before he opened his mouth. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice being shaky as well now. 

Magnus nodded into the pillow, raising his head slowly. “More than okay.” He smiled into the pillow, feeling how Alec slowly backed off from Magnus, causing Magnus to break down completely. Alec snapped his fingers, cleaning both of them and pulling the blanket out that lied underneath them. Magnus had closed his eyes already as he felt the fabric of the blanket hitting his back. He felt how Alec slowly lied down beside him, crawling underneath the blanket. Magnus opened his eyes one more time, gold meeting hazelnut brown. 

They smiled at each other. 

“You shouldn’t be doing this,” Alec said quietly, studying Magnus’ beautiful face and how his hair fell onto it, his forehead being covered in sweat. 

“I shouldn’t be doing what?” Magnus asked, hoarse, clearing his throat. 

“You shouldn’t be trying to save me.” Alec lowered his gaze, avoiding eye contact. His heart still pounded in his ears. He couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that Magnus tried everything to save his destiny. He would doom himself. 

Magnus chuckled weakly, smiling warmly at Alec. “I think you’re not the one who should be telling me what to do,” Magnus commented. 

“I just did five minutes ago,” Alec stated with a kinky smirk. 

Magnus laughed quietly. “I know, and you were amazing at it.” Magnus closed his eyes again. He was too exhausted to have this kind of conversation with Alec right now. He was still going through the aftershock of his climax, trying to process what had happened. It didn’t take him long until he fell asleep, knowing Alec was right next to him. It was a peaceful moment where he always forgot what they had to focus on. He couldn’t even regret his decision right now. He had sex with Alec, with the person he was supposed to send to prison. He fell for him, he fell so deeply for Alec that he couldn’t even save himself anymore. 

But deep down, Magnus didn’t regret any of it. He saw Alec behind the mask that he was trying to hold up for everyone else. He did see Alec for what he truly was; all of his vulnerable sides, his anger and frustration but also the incredible caring side. Alec trusted him, maybe not completely yet, but enough to let himself fall with Magnus. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Alec couldn’t recall how long it took Magnus at the end to fall asleep, but eventually his breathing became quieter. His hand rested beside his face on the pillow. He looked so fragile, untouchable. And yet Alec couldn’t hold himself back. He reached out for Magnus’ hair, carefully brushing over it. He smiled sadly at him, knowing that he couldn’t stay with him. It was way too dangerous, though he didn’t feel any kind of pain in his wings or down his spine. Alec felt almost completely… normal. 

He was exhausted, yes. But he wasn’t ready to risk Magnus’ life. He didn’t even know if he would ever be ready to risk his life. Alec closed his eyes in pain, looking out of the window. It was a full moon, which caused the room to be filled with the bright light of the moon. It shone such a beautiful light on Magnus that Alec had a hard time letting him go. He leaned down to his face, placing a small kiss on his forehead and brushing over his cheek with his thumb. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into his ear before he slowly got up from the bed, moving carefully Magnus wouldn’t wake up. He collected his clothes before he conjured himself a new, plain black shirt before putting on his jacket, and looking back at Magnus with a sad smile. He didn’t want to leave him alone, especially not after what they just did. But he had no other choice. 

Magnus didn’t even put up the wards in the guest room, which enabled Alec to leave the loft completely. Even if he would’ve turned that night, he had to make sure that he would never hurt Magnus again, no matter at what cost. 

The further he flew away from Magnus’ loft, the bigger his guilt overcame him for leaving him. He knew that Magnus would think badly of him the next day. He knew that he’d probably hate him for leaving him just like a one night stand. But it was for the better. It was for Magnus’ sake, for his safety. 

  
  


* * *

Magnus woke up when the sun already shined down onto his face. As he opened his eyes slowly he covered his eyes with his hand because the sun was way too bright. He growled quietly before he reached out for the other side of the bed, trying to find Alec’s hand. But there was nothing for him to grab. Magnus opened his eyes completely, raising his head to find out that he had been alone in his bed. He was looking around the room, realizing that Alec had left and had collected all of his stuff. Magnus got rid of the blanket and stood up, getting dressed within a second due to his magic. He walked out of his bedroom, looking for his phone. 

Alec didn’t leave a message, neither did he leave a note on the table. Magnus walked over to the guest room, but the room was empty as well.

“Alec?” Magnus started to call out through the loft. He started checking every room, calling his name. He checked the kitchen, the bathroom, even his roof. 

He was nowhere to be found. Eventually, Magnus walked onto his balcony, checking if he was there.

The only thing he found was one of his feathers. Magnus looked up at the sky. 

Alec left him behind and he had no idea why. 

But he felt how his own heart sank in disappointment. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! 
> 
> my CC is: [here!](https://curiouscat.qa/lightwoodslevi)  
> 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! next update should be in about 4 weeks =)
> 
> my CC is: [here!](https://curiouscat.qa/lightwoodslevi)  
> for any questions :)


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